Old Friends and New Favors
by Harliquinn
Summary: An old friend of Gibbs asks for his help in protecting his teenage daughter. Warning: may contain the disciplinary spanking of a teenager in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **This is my first attempt at writing NCIS fanfic, but the beginning of this has been buzzing around in my head for a while. Since it won't leave me alone, I thought I'd take a stab at it. Hopefully, I won't stray too far from the characters. All reviews and constructive criticism are welcome.

**Summary:** An old friend of Gibbs asks for his help in protecting his teenage daughter. Warning: may contain the disciplinary spanking of a teenager in later chapters.

**CHAPTER 1**

The ringing phone pulled Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs' attention away from his computer screen. It also drew the attention of the members of his team, who were sitting at their desks finishing up the paper work from the case they had just closed. The ringing of Gibbs's phone usually signaled a new case.

"Gibbs," he answered on the third ring. He listened for a moment then responded, "on my way." Shaking his head in response to his team's unasked question, he made his way to the stairs that led to Director Vance's office.

The first thing Gibbs noticed when he entered the Director's office without knocking was the teenage girl sitting at the conference table. She was slumped in her seat, her arms crossed over her chest. She was dressed in unrelieved black, and her hair had been dyed pitch black with bright red streaks. Her face, which was nearly white except for the dark makeup and lipstick, was set in a mutinous expression. He briefly wondered who she was before his attention was caught by Director Vance and two other people standing in the middle of the room. The woman was a stranger to him, and it took him a minute to two to recognize the older man standing with her.

"Peter, it's been a long time," Gibbs said as he moved forward, his hand extended in greeting.

"Too long, my friend," the older man said in a heavy Russian accent.

"I take it you two know each other," Director Vance stated as he studied the men.

"Jethro became a good friend to me and my daughter shortly after we left Russian and came to America," Peter Sokolov stated.

Vance knew that Peter Sokolov had been a preeminent nuclear scientist in Russian when he and his young daughter, Anya, had defected to the United States in the late-1990's. He hadn't been aware, however, that the scientist and his best agent had known each other. He couldn't think of a reason that a former marine turned NCIS agent would have to becoming friends with a Russian dissident and sent a questioning look in Gibbs' direction.

"We were neighbors for a few years when I first moved to D.C." As usual, Gibbs wasn't willing to go into details, feeling that the explanation he had provided was sufficient.

The sound of a throat being cleared brought the men's attention to the woman. Gibbs looked at her for the first time and instantly pegged her as a young FBI agent. His initial impression was quickly confirmed when Director Vance introduced her as Special Agent Amy Dawson.

"What's all this about?" Gibbs asked, somewhat impatiently. He knew there was a reason for him being summoned to join this group, and he was anxious to find out what it was.

"Mr. Sokolov has asked for your help in protecting his daughter," Special Agent Dawson replied.

Gibbs looked over at the teenager sitting at the conference table. He had a hard time reconciling the smiling, cherubic little girl he remembered with the insolent teenager. "Go on."

Peter shook his head in regret. "Anya has changed since you last saw her, no?"

"That would be an understatement," Gibbs replied. "What's going on?"

"It seems that my daughter was someplace she shouldn't have been when she witnessed something she shouldn't have seen. The FBI want her to testify, but there have been threats against her life." Sokolov turned so that he could meet Gibbs' eyes. "I would not trust anyone but you to look after her and keep her safe until these threats have been resolved."

Gibbs nodded and, with another glance over at Anya, moved to Vance's desk and picked up the phone. "Get up to the Director's office," he ordered when his call was answered. Moments later a knock sounded on the door and Ziva David entered. Gibbs quickly introduced her to Special Agent Dawson and the Sokolovs. "Take Anya down to the cafeteria to get something to eat and then to a conference room. Do not let her out of your site," he ordered.

"Yes, sir." Ziva moved to stand beside Anya. "Shall we go?" she invited.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Anya replied, her voice carrying only a slight Russian accent.

"Please, Anya, go with the Special Agent," Peter nearly pleaded with his daughter to obey.

"No."

Gibbs had seen enough. He wondered whether Peter had asked for his help because the FBI couldn't control Anya well enough to keep her protected. Well, he had news for the girl, he though as he moved to her side. She was going to learn to obey orders or she would sorely regret it. Once he reached Anya's side, Gibbs took hold of her upper arm and roughly pulled her to her feet. "You were told to go with Special Agent David and that is exactly what you are going to do."

Anya attempted to pull her arm out of Gibbs' grasp, but his hold was too firm. "And just how are you going to make me?" she asked.

Gibbs leaned close and spoke quietly in her ear. "Do you remember what happened the last time you disobeyed me?" Anya had been four years old and Gibbs had found her alone at the apartment complex's swimming pool. She had taken advantage of her babysitter's inattentiveness and had snuck out of the apartment. When he asked her to leave with him, she grinned and ran into the pool. Gibbs had had to go in after her and pull her out. He'd turned her over his knee and spanked her before returning her to her babysitter.

When Anya's eyes widened, Gibbs knew the girl understood his threat. "You wouldn't."

"In a heartbeat," he replied. "If you don't do as you're told an accompany Special Agent David."

Anya reluctantly nodded. She wasn't sure that Gibbs would carry out his threat, but she really didn't want to put him to the test either. She cursed viciously under her breath and once again tried to pull her arm out of Gibbs' grasp. She stopped at his warning look. "Alright, I'll go."

Gibbs let go of her arm and stepped back. "Good girl. Just a word of warning, though," he stated when Ziva moved forward to take Anya's arm to guide her out of the room. "She won't be easy to get away from, so I suggest you don't even try."

Ziva nodded at the look Gibbs sent her and started pulling Anya toward the door. "Let's go."

Once the door had closed behind Ziva and Anya, Gibbs turned back to the other people in the room. "Tell me what this is all about," he stated, the order in his voice unmistakable.

Vance nodded and motioned for everyone to sit at the now vacant conference table. When they were all comfortable seated, Peter began talking.

"Looking back, I was far too lenient with Anya. I just didn't have the heart to discipline her as I should. I can only guess that is why she acts the way she does now."

"What happened?" Gibbs demanded when Peter paused.

Peter rubbed his hands over his face before continuing. "Seems she used a fake ID to get into a night club here in the city. I don't know exactly what happened, but she over heard plans being made by the Russian mafia."

Gibbs cursed loudly and turned to Special Agent Dawson. "What's the FBI's involvement with this?"

"Anya overheard Vladimir Lubivich order the death of one of his lieutenants. The man was fished out of the Potomac three days later. Our mole in Lubiv's organization saw Anya before she managed to sneak away. He notified us of that she was a witness."

"Where does Gibbs come into this?" Vance demanded.

"We took Anya into protective custody," Special Agent Dawson explained. "However, Anya made it difficult." She glanced at Peter, who nodded his assent. "She kept running away from us. Apparently, Lubivich learned that she was a potential witness against her. Last week, when she ran again, we found her just as Lubivich made an attempt to grab her. Word has come down from our informant that Lubivich has put a price on her head."

Peter interrupted Special Agent Dawson before she could continue. "I do not trust the FBI to be able to protect her from this Lubivich." He turned to Director Vance and continued. "Jethro has always had a way with Anya. I suppose it was because he accepted nothing less than obedience from her. He always made her face the consequences when she disobeyed." He then turned his gaze to Gibbs. "I know we lost contact after we both moved away from the apartments, but you were the first person I thought of when I realized just how much trouble Anya is in. I admit, I asked my government contacts about you. They all told me you and your team were among the best and had a reputation as people not to be messed with." He paused before continuing. "I'm begging you, old friend, please protect my little girl."

Gibbs sat back in his chair. He certainly hadn't been expecting this turn of events. He had seen for himself the type of person Anya had become and thought she could use some strict discipline. And, truth be told, he couldn't turn his old friend away. That was Rule 47 – never turn your back on a friend in need. He glanced over at Director Vance.

As if sensing the unasked question, Director Vance shrugged. "It's up to you. I can reassign you and your team to witness protection provided nothing major happens that needs your attention." He, too, understood helping a friend who was in need.

Reluctantly, Gibbs nodded. "I want complete autonomy. I won't answer to anyone about what I do to keep her safe." He turned a hard glare to Special Agent Dawson, who quickly nodded her consent. Standing, he pulled out his cell phone to call Ziva to find out where she and Anya were. He and the teenage girl definitely needed to have serious conversation.

"Gibbs."

He turned at the sound of his name.

"_I'm dying of cancer_," Peter stated in Russian.

"_How long do you have_?" Gibbs asked in the same language. He moved to stand in front of his friend and put his hand on the other man's shoulder in a show of support.

"_A few months at most. It was well advanced before they found it._"

"_Does Anya know?"_ Gibbs asked, still speaking Russian.

"_No, but that is the other reason I brought her here._" Peter paused, gathering his thoughts to say the one thing he hoped never to have to speak. "_Will you look after her when I'm gone?"_

Gibbs tightened his grip on Peter's shoulder. "_All you had to do was ask."_

"Thank you, my friend," Peter replied, this time in English.

TBC

**Author's Note:** I don't know what Gibbs' Rule 47 actually is. But for the purposes of this story, it's never turn your back on a friend in need.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

All heads turned as Gibbs strode back into the bull pen. Abby, alerted by a telephone call from McGee, had come up from her lab to wait with the rest of the team. They had been curious when their leader had headed up to Director Vance's office, and that curiosity doubled when Ziva was called away.

"What's up boss?" Tony was the first to ask.

"Until further notice, we're on protection detail," Gibbs responded shortly.

"Protection detail?" McGee was surprised. That was the last thing he had expected.

"Yes, McGee, protection detail." Gibbs proceeded to fill his team in on what was happening.

"Where's Anya now?"

Gibbs turned to look at Abby. He was slightly surprised to see his forensic scientist in the room. However, her presence gave him an idea. Being Goth might give her something in common with Anya so that the girl might be willing to open up to Abby. Plus, there weren't very many people who could withstand Abby's charm once she got started.

"She's with Ziva getting something to eat. Abs, why don't you call Ziva and find out where they are and go join them. Maybe see if you can't get Anya to open up some."

Abby saluted, "on it, boss." Glad to be useful, she pulled out her cell phone to do as she had been asked.

Turning back to McGee and Tony, Gibbs continued. "McGee see what you can find out about Vladimir Lubivich and the FBI's investigation into him. Tony, see what you can find out about Anya. While you're at it, see what you can dig up on FBI Special Agent Amy Dawson." Gibbs had considered contacting his friend, Tobias Fornell, a senior agent with the FBI, to get information. But, he quickly decided to hold that particular card in reserve. "I have a feeling there's more to this than I've been led to believe."

Down in the cafeteria, things weren't going quite as well as Anya had hoped. Ziva hadn't let her out of her sight. The woman had even accompanied her into the restroom and stood at the door until she was finished.

When Anya had refused to make a food selection while going through the cafeteria line, Ziva randomly picked a sandwich and side salad. "You will eat that or I will force feed you," Ziva quietly threatened once they were seated at a table in the far side of the nearly empty dining room. Anya had no doubt the woman would and could carry out her threat.

The two were sitting in silent animosity when Ziva's cell phone rang. Anya half listened to Ziva's side of the quick conversation while trying to come up with a plan on how to escape. She remembered Gibbs, not only the spanking he'd alluded to earlier, but the good memories of ice cream and laughter. After Lubivich's attempt on her life while she was supposed to be protected by the FBI, she wasn't sure she could trust anyone to keep her safe, even him. To her mind, her only chance for survival was to disappear. And in order to do that, she had to get away from NCIS and the FBI. But, she knew that wasn't going to be easy. When she wasn't able to come up with an immediate solution, she turned her attention back to Ziva's side of the telephone conversation and was surprised when she heard the women tell whoever was on the other end of the conversation their location in the cafeteria.

Anya was even more surprised few minutes later at the other women who bounced up to their table. The woman, who appeared to be in her early thirties, had pitch black hair like her own. But where Anya wore her long hair loose, hers was worn in braided pig-tails. A spider web tattoo was visible on her neck above her studded dog collar, and the red t-shirt she wore was covered in miniature skulls and cross bones.

"Hi, Ziva." Abby slid into a chair at the table. She held hand out to Anya and introduced herself. After seeing Anya, Abby was sure she knew why Gibbs had sent her down here. He probably figured her Gothic appearance would give Anya something to connect with. And, after what she had heard, Abby was sure the teenager could use a friend.

"Hi, I'm Abby. You must be Anya. Gibbs sent me down here to keep you company. Although, I think he'd getting pretty anxious for you to return upstairs. Believe me, Gibbs isn't known for his patience. In fact, he prowls around my lab like a tiger while he's waiting for test results. I'm a forensic scientist, by the way."

Anya just stared. She couldn't believe how Abby was just rattling on. It didn't seem as if the woman had paused to take a breath. Ziva acted like nothing was out of the ordinary, and even managed to comment a time or two on Abby's running commentary.

"I know you're probably scared half to death, but Gibbs will keep you safe. He's like super-Gibbs or something. Nobody'll be able to get past him." Abby leaned forward as though what she was going to say next was a secret she wanted to share only with Anya. "Don't let Gibbs' growl fool you. He's really a nice guy." She glanced over at Ziva, who had given a short, derisive laugh.

"I think you would do better to tell her to behave and do whatever it is that Gibbs tells her. He can be very formidable when he is angry, no?"

Anya was a little amazed at the two women's conversation. She didn't know what she had expected, but it certainly hadn't been this.

"Speaking of doing what you have been told," Ziva interrupted her train of thought. "You need to eat that." She pointed to the sandwich and salad. "Gibbs will not be happy if I have to report that you disobeyed me."

"Boss, I've found something." McGee's statement interrupted the silence in the room and immediately brought Gibbs to attention.

"You going to keep me waiting?" he demanded when the computer expert wasn't immediately forthcoming

"According to the FBI file I accessed, Vladimir Lubivich, was a low level enforcer with the Russian mafia who worked his way up to the head of the organization's drug trade in the D.C. area." McGee paused to put a picture of Lubivich on the viewing screen. "He's suspected in at least five drug related murders, including the one Anya overheard him discussing." He paused and turned to look at Gibbs before continuing. "Boss, other than the mole the FBI has in Lubivich's organization, the only evidence they have linking him to any of the suspected murders is Anya's testimony."

Gibbs nodded. "What about Agent Dawson?"

"I've got this one, Probie," Tony punched a few keys on his computer keyboard and the picture of Vladimir Lubivich was replaced by one of FBI Special Agent Amy Dawson. "Special Agent Amy Dawson is originally from a small town in southeastern Kentucky. She got a criminal justice degree from Morehead State University and then went on to Quantico. Graduated three months ago and was assigned to the D.C. office."

McGee interrupted before Tony could go any further. "According to her record with the FBI, Agent Dawson has worked a few minor cases. She was assigned to Anya's protection detail earlier this week after an attempt was made on Anya's life."

That caught Gibbs' attention and he turned to McGee. "What?" he demanded.

McGee swallowed hard, he wasn't sure if Gibbs' reaction was to the fact that they'd put a rookie in charge of protecting a witness or the attempt on Anya's life. He was hoping it was the latter. "I was just getting to that, Boss. There's not a whole lot of detail available. But, from what I can piece together, Anya snuck out of the safe house the FBI had her in. Apparently Lubivich or one of his men had been tailing her and knew where she was. Minutes after she left, she was nearly run down in the street. Nobody got the license plate of the car, but it's too much of a coincidence for it not to be connected."

"You know how I feel about coincidences, don't you, McGee."

McGee stammered for a moment before answering. "There's no such thing as coincidences."

"That's right." Gibbs moved to his desk and grabbed his cell phone. He thought for a moment and then turned to Tony. "What else did you find out?"

Tony didn't bother putting Anya's picture up on the screen. He sat down in front of his computer to read off the information he'd managed to gather. "She was born in Moscow and immigrated to the U.S. with her father at the age of two. She was about ten when her father denounced his Russian citizenship and became a U.S. citizenship. Because she was a minor, she became a citizen at the same time."

"I know all of that, Tony. I was at Peter's swearing in ceremony. Give me information that's a bit more recent."

Tony cleared his throat and continued. "She's eighteen now and, from the looks of it, just barely graduated from high school earlier this year. There's no indication that she's enrolled in college anywhere. There's no employment history. She's got a sealed juvenile record, but since turning eighteen she's gotten some speeding tickets and what appears to be one hit for public intoxication and underage drinking. Looks like someone pulled some strings and she was let off with a warning." He looked over at Gibbs. "I can't decide if she's taking the teenage rebellion bit a little too far or if she's really that bad of a kid."

Gibbs didn't respond as he flipped open his cell phone and punched the number to speed dial Ziva. When she answered, he ordered her to bring Anya to the conference room. They all needed to sit down and talk. He didn't know the answer to Tony's question. The one thing he did know was that Anya was in for a rude awaking.

"McGee, find out if Peter and Special Agent Dawson have left the building yet. If not, have them escorted to Conference Room 1. I think all of us need to have a serious discussion."

*** TBC ***


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **This chapter contains some foul language and the disciplinary spanking of a teenager. If you don't like it, don't read it.

**CHAPTER 3**

Gibbs entered the conference room to find McGee waiting there with Special Agent Dawson and Peter Sokolov. Gibbs moved straight to the table and sat down. They sat in silence for a moment before he finally spoke. "Ziva and Abby are on their way up here with Anya. But, before they get here, I want to get a few things straight between us."

Peter studied his old friend. He had seen many sides to this man during the years of their friendship, and he knew that the hard-edged man that was addressing them now would give his life to keep Anya safe and would accept nothing less than complete cooperation from everyone in return. He mentally sighed, his little Anya was in for a rough time. His thoughts were brought back to the present with Gibbs' next words.

"Peter, I had my team do some digging, and they uncovered Anya's juvenile record. It's sealed, of course. It will take time, but we'll be able to break that seal. It will be a lot easier if you tell me what I'm going to find."

"Why do you need to know? How will that help you protect her?"

Gibbs looked steadily at his friend. "Even one small bit of information that I don't have at my disposal could mean the difference between keeping Anya alive and not being able to stop Lubivich from getting to her."

Giving Peter time to think about his words, Gibbs then turned to Special Agent Dawson. It was still incredulous to him that the FBI would assign a rookie to protection detail - Especially since it appeared that she was working without the benefit of guidance from a senior agent. "My team will be conducting their own investigation into Lubivitch's whereabouts." He held up his hand to forestall her when she started to interrupt. "We will, of course, share any information that we uncover and request that the FBI do the same. When it comes time to bring the bastard down, you can take credit for the collar."

He then turned to Peter, but before he could again press the matter of Anya's juvenile record, the door opened. Gibbs watched as Ziva steered the teenager through the opening, followed shortly by Abby. He was sure the forensic scientist was there because she didn't want to miss any of the action. Sighing, he thought he only needed Tony to show up to make this little gathering complete.

Gibbs watched as Ziva steered Anya to an empty chair at the conference table. She exchanged a look with him that clearly said things hadn't gone quite as easily as expected. Although he wondered what had happened, he wasn't all that surprised that Anya had given Ziva trouble.

As usual, Gibbs cut right to the chase. "We need to set the ground rules until this thing with Lubivich gets resolved." He noticed that his team members had moved to stand along the wall. He noted with some curiousity that Ziva had taken up position beside the door. Did she expect Anya to try and make a break for it?

Anya slumped in her chair and tried to look bored. Inside she was seething. Her entire life was ruined all because of one overheard conversation. She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "There doesn't need to be any ground rules, because I don't need your protection."

Nobody in the room could believe what she had just said. "Anya, please," Peter began, but Gibbs interrupted him.

"Young lady, you are the primary witness in a murder investigation against a known member of the Russian mob." His voice was stern. "Someone who has already made at least one attempt on your life, and you say you don't need protection?"

Anya sat forward and met Gibbs' angry gaze. "He was able to make that attempt because I was under the so-called protection of the FBI. Why should I believe it will be any different with you?" She demanded.

Gibbs voice softed slightly as he attempted to reassure and comfort her. "Because I care about you. I promise neither I nor any member of my team are going to let anything happen to you. And, part of keeping you safe includes setting up rules for you to follow."

"You don't need to protect me. Just let me go, and I'll disappear. He'll never be able to find me." She was afraid of what might happen, not only to herself but to her father if Lubivich found her, but she wasn't ready to admit that to anyone. It was better to her mind to present the image of an angry, spoiled brat rather than the scared little girl she felt like.

A movement from Abby caught Gibbs' attention and he looked in her direction. She quickly signed "she's scared." He nodded once to let Abby know he understood her message and turned back to Anya.

"That's not going to happen. Until further notice you are going to be in the company of at least two members of this team at all times. You will do what you are told, when you are told, and you will show respect at all times. Am I understood?"

Anya plopped back in her chair and returned Gibbs' hard gaze for several seconds before replying, "I don't need a damn babysitter."

Gibbs had heard enough. He moved quickly to shove Anya's chair away from the table. Bracing his hands on the arms, he leaned down until his face was only inches from hers. "This is your one and only warning, Anya. If you insist on behaving like a disobedient child, I will treat you as one. Do you understand me?"

Anya glared at him, but remained silent. She was aware that the attention of everyone in the room was directed at her and Gibbs. Embarrassment only served to fuel her anger, but she instantly regretted her next words as soon as they left her mouth. "Fuck you."

Gibbs straightened and without taking his eyes off Anya's face calmly ordered everyone to leave the room. Peter started to protest, but Abby took his arm and led him through the doorway. She had a good idea of what was going to happen next and Peter arguing with Gibbs about it would only make it worse.

Once they were outside the conference room, Abby continued to lead Peter down the hallway. She could tell the older man was upset and thought he might need to talk. It wasn't long before she was proven correct.

Peter stopped and turned to look at Abby. It was the first time he'd really looked at her and was slightly surprised by her gothic appearance. Since she had entered the conference room with Ziva and Anya, he knew she was a member of Gibbs' team, so he felt he could trust her. "I don't know what happened to Anya. She used to be such a sweet little girl. Now," he paused to gesture in the direction of the conference room. "Now, she seems determined to cause trouble for all those around her."

Abby patted Peter's shoulder. "She's scared. Once she realizes Gibbs will keep her safe and find that Lubivich guy, she'll calm down."

Peter shook his head. "No, I'm afraid it's a bit more than that." He glanced down the empty hallway to gather his thoughts. "She's been wild ever since she became a teenager. I don't know what happened." He shrugged. "No, that's not entirely true" he admitted. "I was a single father with a very demanding job. I let her do things that I shouldn't have. I suppose I was trying to make up for being gone so much. Before I knew it, it was too late." Peter met Abby's gaze again. "She has a juvenile record, you know. Gibbs was asking me about it when you came in the room. Everything on it is for underage drinking and for using false identification to get into places where she had no business being. Every time I pulled strings and kept her from being locked up."

Abby was starting to understand that Peter blamed himself for Anya's behavior. "It's not your fault. Lots of kids, even those whose parents are there all the time, end up in trouble. You did what you thought you had to do." She moved to stand in front of Peter so she could look him in the eyes. "Not only will Gibbs keep her safe and find Lubivich before the FBI does, but he'll help her get off that self-destructive path she's on. You'll see – she'll be just fine."

While Abby and Peter were having their conversation down the hallway, McGee, Ziva, and Agent Dawson were carrying on their own conversation.

"Exactly what do you think Gibbs is planning on doing?" Agent Dawson asked.

McGee stuttered a moment before responding. "I'm sure he just plans to make sure Anya sees the error of her ways." Although Gibbs' chosen method would likely be readily apparent in a very short time, he didn't think it wise to advertise it. He knew both Abby and Ziva had on previous occasion felt Gibbs' heavy hand of displeasure. He'd managed to escape that particular experience except for the occasional slap to the back of his head.

"And just how is he going to do that?" Agent Dawson pressed. "Why did he want us to clear the room. Surely he could have lectured her in front of witnesses."

McGee sighed. He supposed he was going to have to say it. "I don't think he's just going to lecture her."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Gibbs tends to take a hands-on approach to discipline."

"You don't mean he's going to . . ." Agent Dawson was flabbergasted. She'd never heard anything like that before.

"What McGee is trying so hard not to say is that Gibbs is probably going to spank her," Ziva commented. She wasn't going to say it out loud, but she thought the girl definitely deserved it.

Meanwhile, in the conference room, the tension was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. "You want to tell me what all that was about?" Gibbs demanded.

"I told you I don't need a babysitter," Anya crossed her arms over her chest. The pout on her face made her look like a petulant child.

"I know you're not deaf, Anya. You've been told that you don't have any choice in the matter. You need to accept that. And, you need to start showing some respect to the people who are trying to help you. Whether you want to admit it or not, we're the only thing that stands between you and Vladimir Lubivich." Gibbs paused for a moment to allow his words to sink in. When he spoke again, his voice had hardened. "Now, can you give me one good reason why I shouldn't blister your ass for acting like a spoiled little brat?"

Anya swallowed hard. Despite Gibbs' earlier threats, she really hadn't expected him to actually carry them out. "You don't have the right to do that."

Gibbs grinned. If Anya had known him better, she would have realized that grin meant that she was in serious trouble. "I don't care if I have the right or not. You're officially under my protection, and that means I'll do whatever I deem necessary to keep you safe. That includes turning you over my knee whenever you need an attitude adjustment."

He grasped Anya's arm and pulled her up out the chair.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

"I would have thought it rather obvious, given our conversation," Gibbs replied as he sat in the now vacant chair and pulled her face down across his lap. "You're going to loose this attitude of yours and start cooperating, or this is going to become a regular occurrence."

His hand landed hard against her backside. Anya jumped and cried out at the first punishing swat. She struggled, trying to free herself from Gibbs' grasp, but the former marine held her easily as he continued to swat her upturned bottom. Finally, when she had stopped struggling and lay sobbing across his knees, Gibbs paused and asked, "are you ready to listen now?"

"Yes," was Anya's tearful reply.

"You are going to stop acting like a spoiled brat and cooperate with us. And you are going to stop cussing. Do you understand?" When Anya didn't answer right away, Gibbs swatted her three more times. "Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good." Gibbs helped Anya stand and held her arms until she was steady on her feet. Then he stood and pulled her into his arms for a hug. While she was in his embrace, he whispered into her ear, "I really do care about you and want to keep you safe. But, you fighting me every step of the way isn't going to help." Gibbs pushed Anya back so that he could look into her eyes. "I don't want to have to do that again, but I will if I need to." Anya nodded her understanding. Gibbs smiled and pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket. He handed it to her. "Get yourself pulled back together. I'll go round everyone up so we can finish this. You're going to apologize to everyone for causing trouble."

Anya nodded. She was embarrassed at the thought that there was no way everyone who had left the room didn't know what had just happened.

A few minutes later everyone was back in the room. Only this time, Tony had joined them. Once everyone was situated, Gibbs gave Anya a hard look and stated. "Before we get started, Anya has something she wants to say."

All eyes turned expectantly in her direction. She squirmed in her seat, and the pain from the spanking she'd just received made her wince. The sound of Gibbs clearing his throat in obvious warning spurred her along. "I'm sorry for the trouble I caused."

Gibbs nodded his approval. "As I was saying before I was interrupted, Anya will be in the company of at least two team members at all times. Until other arrangements are made, she'll be staying with meand at least one other agent at my house at night and coming to NCIS during the day. We will also be conducting our own investigation into Lubivich's whereabouts. If we find him before the FBI does, we will share that information, and I expect the same cooperation in return," he said looking pointedly at Agent Dawson.

"You'll get it, sir," she responded.

"Don't call me sir." Gibbs turned to look at his team members. "Ziva will stay tonight, and we'll work out a schedule for Tony and McGee." His team members nodded. "Abby, would you pick up some things for Anya – whatever you think she might need?"

"I'd be happy to, Gibbs," she replied with a glance at Anya. She could tell that the teenager was still very unhappy about the turn of events. She only hoped that things would turn around quickly.

"Good. Tony, you and McGee, see what else you can dig up on Lubivich. Check for all the properties he might own, known contacts, and any known alias." The two agents nodded and excused themselves to get to work.

"Peter, can I speak with you for a moment out in the hallway?" Gibbs asked. When Peter nodded in agreement, both men rose and exited the room.

"I'm not going to apologize for spanking Anya." Gibbs stated as soon as the door was closed. "She needs to understand what I will and will not tolerate."

"No apology is necessary, my friend," Peter responded. "As I told Abby, I am responsible for the way she acts today." He shook his head in regret. "I was far too lenient with her. I suppose I wanted to make up for spending too much of my time working instead of being there for her." Peter paused to gather his thoughts and then went on to share the information he had given Abby about Anya's juvenile record.

Gibbs nodded. He hadn't been all that surprised by what Peter had told him. In fact, he had assumed it had been something along those lines. "Would you like a few minutes with her before we leave?"

Peter nodded. "If you wouldn't mind."

The two men entered the room. Soon, Peter and Anya had the room to themselves. Abby had left to go shopping for Anya, and Agent Dawson was going to report the day's events to her supervisor. Ziva had returned to the squad room to wait for Gibbs and Anya.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. Finally, Anya spoke. "Daddy, I'm sorry I've caused so much trouble. I never meant for any of this to happen."

Peter opened his arms wide, and Anya quickly moved into the embrace. "You have nothing to be sorry about, baby girl. However, you must take responsibility for your actions and do what you can to help bring this man to justice." He leaned back so that he could look down into Anya's face. "Gibbs will keep you safe, but you have to do what he tells you."

"Yes, Daddy."

Peter pulled his daughter back into his arms for another hug. "Good girl." He couldn't shake the premonition that this was the last time he would see his daughter. "I love you with all my heart, Anya. I wanted you to know that."

"I know, Daddy. I've never doubted that." Anya couldn't put her finger on anything specific, but she knew something was wrong with her father. She hoped it was nothing more serious than worry over what was happening to her. "Daddy, what's wrong."

"Nothing, my dear," Peter replied. "I suppose we'd best be going. Gibbs seemed anxious to get you home." He forced a smile and looked reassuringly at his daughter.

***TBC***

**Additional author's note: **My next update may be delayed for a bit. I'm going to be traveling and when I return I have a very hectic work schedule. I know some of you are impatient to see the next chapter, so I'll try to post it as quickly as I can.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Anya took one look at Gibbs' sparsely furnished living room and decided this place was more of a dump than the safe house the FBI had tried to keep her in. Ziva stepped through the doorway behind her and grasped her arm, pulling her further into the room.

"It is not a good idea for you to stand in open doors."

Before she could say anything in response, Tony entered the house and shut the door. Gibbs had stayed behind to finish some last minute details regarding Anya's protection and had sent Tony to accompany Ziva. Anya noticed that he didn't lock it. "What kind of protection is this when you don't even lock the damned door?"

Tony and Ziva exchanged a glance. "Bossman doesn't lock his doors. In fact, I don't know if they actually lock," the senior agent replied. "Doesn't matter, though, you're going to be safer here than you will be anywhere else."

"Gibbs said you are to take the quest room upstairs. It is the first door on the right at the top of the staircase.' Ziva motioned toward the backpack slung over Anya's shoulder. "Why don't you go put your things there?"

The girl ignored the directive and dropped the bag on the coffee table. She plopped down on the couch and propped her feet up next to her bag. Despite her earlier confrontation with Gibbs, Anya wasn't going to make it easy for anyone.

Several minutes passed in tense silence until Tony stepped out of the kitchen. He took a bite out of the apple he held in his hand as he watched Ziva and Anya. "You just going to sit there all day?"

"What else is there to do in this dump?" Anya demanded.

Toni moved to stand in front of Anya and said, "let me give you some free advice. Lose the attitude. Gibbs won't put up with it, and life will be a whole lot easier for you without it."

"Like I care."

"Tony is correct," Ziva commented. "Gibbs will not tolerate you acting this way. I think you know how he is going to react."

"React to what?" Gibbs asked as he stepped into the room and closed the door. He wasn't surprised when the other three people started at his interruption. He, of course, had heard the entire conversation.

"Nothing, Boss," Tony was quick to reply.

"Uh-huh." Gibbs didn't believe Tony for a minute, but he chose to let it go. Instead, he walked over and pushed Anya's feet off the coffee table. "Did Tony tell you where you'd be staying?" he asked the teenager.

"Yeah."

"Then why is your stuff still down here instead of in your room?"

"What stuff? All I've got is this fraking backpack."

"I don't care; it still needs to be put in your room. Go do it now." He picked it up and held it out to her, waiting impatiently for her to take it. "Besides, Abby will be here in a bit with some clothes and other things for you."

Cursing under her breath, Anya grabbed the backpack out of Gibbs' hand and stomped up the stairs. He waited a moment before turning to speak to Ziva. "I'll change the sheets on the bed, and you can take my room. I'll sleep on the couch."

"That's not necessary, Gibbs. I can stay down here."

Gibbs sighed. Save him from stubborn females, he thought. "I know it's not necessary, but it's what I want you to do." He studied Ziva's face for a moment. "Do I have to make it an order?"

In turn, Ziva studied Gibbs for a moment before replying. "No. But, I see no reason why you should have to give up your bed." At the change in Gibbs' expression she quickly continued, "but I will do as you ask."

"Good." He moved past the small group toward the kitchen, intent on putting awa the groceries that filled the bags in his hands. "There's a third bedroom upstairs that I've been using for storage. I'll shift some stuff around and make enough room to be able to fit at least a cot in there."

Ziva nodded. "That will do."

"Good." Gibbs glanced at Tony. "DiNozzo will hang out for a bit if you want to run home and pack an overnight bag."

"That's not necessary, Gibbs," Ziva stated. "I have a bag in my car." At the men's surprised expressions, she quickly continued. "I always carry one in case of emergencies."

As she started toward the car to retrieve it, the doorbell rang. All three agents immediately reached for their weapons, and Ziva moved forward to stand beside the door. None of them expected Lubivich to discover that Anya was there, but they weren't taking any chances. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Abby," came the reply through the wooden door. Guns were quickly re-holstered, and Abby was soon ushered into the room. She was carrying several shopping bags from a few of her favorite Gothic apparel stores as well as the local drug store.

"Abbs, when I asked you to pick up a few things for Anya, I didn't mean for you to buy out the entire store," Gibbs stated in lieu of a greeting.

"Gibbs, you can't expect a girl to live with just the clothing she has in her backpack, now can you?" Abby looked around and was slightly disappointed when she didn't see Anya – she had been planning a big entrance to surprise the girl. "Where's Anya?"

"Up in her room."

Abby headed toward the stairs. "Well, I'll just take this stuff up to her."

"Hold on, Abbs,' Gibbs stopped her with a hand on her arm. "What's in the bags?"

Abby looked a bit confused. She couldn't think of a reason why Gibbs would be questioning her. "Clothes, a tooth brush and some toothpaste, other girl essentials. Everything's harmless, Oh Suspicious Leader."

Gibbs glared at Abby for a moment before releasing her arm and sending her on upstairs.

"What was that about, Boss?" Dinozzo asked.

Gibbs usually didn't explain himself to his agents, but he shrugged his shoulders in response. "My gut's telling me something's going on, and I can't quite put my finger on it."

Ziva looked more concerned than surprised. "Do you think that Abby is planning something with Anya?" Except for a few notable incidents, Abby wouldn't normally do anything that would set Gibbs against her.

"No, it's something with Anya. And I don't doubt for a second that she would think twice about conning Abby into going along with her if she thought it would give her an advantage."

"You'd have thought she'd have learned better than that after what happened this afternoon," Tony commented as he moved into the kitchen to toss his apple core into the sink. He'd heard all about what had happened between his boss and the teenager in the conference room, and couldn't believe anyone would be dumb enough to risk the ire of one Leroy Jethro Gibbs twice in one day.

Anya turned from folding the last of the t-shirts Abby had brought her into the dresser drawer. "Can I borrow your cell phone? The battery on mine is dead, and I didn't think to stick the charger in my backpack. I just want to call a friend and let her know I'm okay." When she saw the skeptical look on Abby's face, Anya pressed on. "We were supposed to meet for lunch yesterday, and I haven't been able to call her and explain why I wasn't there. I know she must be really worried, because I've never stood her up without an explanation before."

Abby, of all people, knew what it was like to be worried about your friends. She was surprised she hadn't gone prematurely gray worrying about McGee, Ziva, Tony, and Gibbs - although thanks to her hairdresser's handiwork, she really didn't know if she had any gray hair or not. But, she was also a bit suspicious. "Have you asked Gibbs about calling your friend?"

Anya shrugged. "I haven't asked him." She hadn't had to ask him because Gibbs had already make it perfectly clear that she wasn't to attempt to contact anyone. He had even gone as far as to confiscate her cell phone and locking it in his desk at NCIS headquarters, explaining that Lubivich could be listening in on her cell phone conversations in order to find information about her whereabouts. But, as with many teenagers, she chose to ignore Gibbs' order and do exactly what she wanted. And what she wanted to do was find a way out of this situation. She didn't know if she would be able to survive living under Gibbs' thumb for very long without going crazy.

Abby weighed her options carefully. She knew exactly what Gibbs' reaction would be if she helped Anya break his rules, and she really didn't want to experience that particular event again any time soon. But, she considered, what if Anya was telling the truth. "Okay," she finally agreed. "But you can only send a text message, and I have to read it first." Abby only hoped she was doing the right thing.

Anya moved across the room in a flash and grabbed Abby in a hug. "Thanks." She readily accepted the cell phone that the forensic scientist handed over and was pleased to see that it was designed for texting. That would make what she was about to do much easier. Moving away from Abby, she quickly typed a message and sent it, making sure to go in and erase it from the phone's memory. She then quickly input a random telephone number and typed a message. When she was finished, Anya took the phone to Abby. "Sorry it took me so long. I wasn't quite sure what to say and had to start over a couple of times."

Abby accepted her phone back. "That's okay. It's hard to put a lot of information in such a limited number of characters." She looked down at the phone and read the message that had been typed in:

"Kat. Sorry about yesterday. Something came up. I'm okay. Will tell you more later. Using someone else's phone so U won't be able to contact. A."

Since she didn't see anything wrong with the message, Abby handed the phone back to Anya. "Okay. You can send it." When the phone was handed back to her, Abby looked at the sent items under the messaging menu and saw that the message had, in fact, been sent.

The two women chatted for a few minutes more before Abby excused herself, explaining that she had bowling practice with the nuns in a few minutes and had to leave. After Abby left, Anya lay down on the bed. She fell asleep trying to come up with a plan to get past Ziva and Gibbs.

*** TBC ***


	5. Chapter 5

**Warning: This chapter contains the disciplinary spanking of a teenager. If you are offended by that, don't read it. **

**CHAPTER 5**

Anya quietly pulled the door closed as she stepped out into the hallway. The house was silent, but the click of the door latching was barely audible. She walked softly down the hallway, listening carefully for any sign that Gibbs or Ziva had heard her moving about. Thinking she was going to be able to make good on her escape, she stepped into the kitchen, and nearly jumped out of her skin when the overhead light flicked on.

As her eyes adjusted to the light, she realized that Gibbs and Ziva hadn't made an appearance in the hallway because they were standing by the kitchen table. And, they weren't alone. Anya nearly groaned out loud when she recognized the tall, skinny young man who sat between the two NCIS agents. The look of sheer terror on his face gave silent testimony to the way the situation was going to play out.

"I believe you two know each other," Gibbs stated, breaking the tense silence. "Ronnie, here, tells me that he stopped by to pick up you. Seems he got a text message from you – only it wasn't sent from your cell phone. It came from Abby's." He pinned Anya with a look that had caused more than one hardened Marine to swallow hard. "You care to explain that to me - especially since I told you not to contact anyone?"

Anya shot Ronnie a hard, accusing look. He shrugged in response. The young man had been much more afraid of the two NCIS agents than he'd ever been of Anya and had willingly told them everything they wanted to know.

"Don't look at him, young lady," Gibbs directed. "I expect an answer. Now." When Anya continued to remain silent, he turned to Ziva. "Escort Mr. Breckinridge back to his car, then follow him home, and make sure you aren't being followed."

"Yes, Gibbs," Ziva stated as she moved forward to pull Ronnie to his feet.

Gibbs leveled a look at the young man. "You even breath a word about getting that text from Anya or where you found her to anyone, and I'll find a reason to ship you off to Gitmo as a suspected terrorist. You understand me?"

Ronnie swallowed hard. He wasn't sure that the NCIS had the power to do what he had threatened, but he wasn't willing to take that chance. "Yes, sir."

Turning back to Anya, Gibbs again pinned her with a hard look. "Now, I would like an answer to my question, young lady."

Anya returned Gibbs' hard look with one of her own and remained silent.

"You are in enough trouble already, Anya," Gibbs stated. He was struggling to keep his voice reasonable and not yell at her in his best marine gunnery sergeant voice. "Being stubborn about it isn't going to help you any. It's time for you to grow up and accept the consequences of your actions – all of your actions. Because, if you continue acting like a child, I will not hesitate to treat you like one - and, I think you have a pretty good idea what I mean." He paused for a moment to allow time for his words to register. "I also think you have a pretty good idea how this is going to end. You aren't getting out of the punishment you have coming for this stunt, but you can make it easier on yourself by talking to me. Now, I'm going to ask you this once more. Why did you use Abby's cell phone to contact your friend after I told you not to?"

Anya plopped down in one of the kitchen chairs. She knew she had just lost her last chance to escape from Gibbs' custody. At Gibbs' warning glare, she shrugged. "It's not like Ronnie was somebody Lubivich could connect to me. I mean, he's my friend, Kat's, older sister's boyfriend."

"So you're now telling me that you know Lubivich well enough to know how his mind works?" Gibbs moved to brace his hands on the chair arms and lean in close to Anya so that his face was only inches from hers. "What else have you lied about, Anya?"

Anya was stunned. She hadn't expected this reaction from Gibbs. She'd thought that telling him that Ronnie was so far disconnected from her circle of friends that she didn't see how he could even be on Lubivich's radar would pacify him. "That's not what I meant." She tried to scoot her chair back out of Gibbs' grasp in order to create some personal space, but the chair wouldn't budge.

"What exactly did you mean? Any while your at it, explain to me how you knew Ronnie Breckinridge's cell phone number if he wasn't a friend."

"I meant that Ronnie's not someone I spend time with. I only know him from seeing him at Kat's house when he's been there with Angie, her sister. I don't even know where he lives or have his cell phone number saved in my phone." She paused to take a calming breath. "I have a photographic memory for numbers. I only have to see a number once to remember it. Ronnie was flirting with me one day and gave me his number. I looked at it before tossing the piece of paper in the trash, but I can still remember it." Again Anya shrugged. "I just figured he'd be willing to help me if I called."

Gibbs straightened and took a step back from Anya's chair. "And why would a man you're merely an acquaintance with come to help you in the middle of the night based only on a text message?"

"I didn't promise him anything, if that's what you're after. I just said I needed his help and asked him to pick me up here."

"And why would you do that?" Gibbs demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

Once again, a shrug was his answer. "I don't know."

"Not good enough. Try again."

Anya studied the flaking polish on her finger nails, refusing to meet Gibbs' angry gaze.

"Fine. We'll leave that for now. How did you a hold of Abby's cell to send the text?"

She hadn't been expecting that question, and she hoped that she hadn't gotten Abby in trouble. "I told her I needed to get in touch with my friend, Kat, because I wasn't able to meet her for lunch yesterday and she would worry. Abby let me use her cell phone to text her a message with the understanding that she had to read my text before I sent it. I sent the text to Ronnie and erased any proof of it from the phone. Then typed one to Kat and put in a number I made up. After Abby read it, she let me send it." She looked earnestly at Gibbs. "Please, she didn't know I was going to contact anyone else. Don't be mad at her."

"How I decide to deal with Abby is between the two of us. I'm more concerned with you at the moment. I suggest you just go up to your room and wait for me. I'll be up shortly." Gibbs would talk to Abby in the morning about allowing Anya to use her cell phone. As brilliant as the forensic scientist was, she was still too trusting of people in many ways. He was sure that Abby fell hook, line, and sinker for Anya's sob story and thought she was helping the girl out by allowing her to send the text message.

"What?" Anya asked, somewhat taken aback by the sudden change of topic.

"You really didn't think you could pull something like this and get away with it did you? If so, you're a whole lot less intelligent than I gave you credit for. Now you have two choices. Either you go up to your room and wait for me, or I blister your ass here and now. Either way works for me, but I thought you might like a little privacy in case Ziva returns before I'm finished with you." Gibbs shrugged one shoulder, indicating that he really didn't care which option she chose. "If it were me, I wouldn't want someone to walk in and see that."

When Anya didn't move, Gibbs stepped forward and grasped her arm to pull her out of her chair. "Fine, have it your way." In one swift movement, he took her vacated seat and had her pulled face down across his lap. Before she could even register her current position, Gibbs had hooked his hand in the waist band of her pants and stripped both her pants and her underwear down to her knees. The first stinging slap caused Anya to gasp in surprise. That first slap was quickly followed by others, and Anya's gasp of surprise became moans of pain. Gibbs continued the spanking until her moans turned to sobs.

It took Anya several seconds to realize that the spanking had stopped. She prayed he was finished, but was afraid he was only taking a break.

"Why are you getting this spanking?" Gibbs asked.

She hesitated too long in answering and Gibbs' hand descended three more times. "Okay, okay. Stop. I sent a text to Ronnie asking him to come pick me up after you told me not to contact anyone."

"Good. What else?"

"I tricked Abby into letting me use her cell phone to sent the text message."

"If I ever catch you doing anything like that again, the spanking you will receive will make this one seem like child's play in comparison. You understand me?"

Anya hesitated, but quickly answered before Gibbs' hand could descend again. "Yes, sir, I understand."

Gibbs helped her stand and averted his gaze while she straightened her clothing. When she was done, he stood and pulled her into his arms for a hug. "Why do you keep fighting me, Anya?" he asked as he pulled back to look down into her face. "I don't know how else to say it, but you can trust me and my team to keep you safe from Lubivich. But you're doing everything possible to prevent us from being able to do that."

Anya shook her head and leaned into Gibbs' chest and the comfort it represented. "I don't know," she whispered.

"Well, I hope you figure it out soon, because you can't keep this up." He ran his hand down the back of her hair. "Why don't you go on up to bed? We'll finish discussing this in the morning."

"Okay," Anya replied, glad for a reason to leave the room. She wanted to wallow in her misery for a while, and that was best done alone.

"You're going to have to tell Abby what you've done." Gibbs' words followed her out of the kitchen into the hallway.

Just perfect, she thought, one more thing to worry about during the night.

xxxxxxxxxxx

The next morning Abby glanced up at the sound of footsteps. Her eyes widened when she saw Gibbs entering her lab, pulling a very reluctant looking Anya in his wake. Her curiosity turned to concern as she watched Gibbs close the door to the lab and lock it.

"What's up?" she asked, looking first at Anya, then at Gibbs.

"There's something we need to discuss, Abby."

"Yeah, I kinda got that, Gibbs. What is it?"

Turning lose of Anya's arm, Gibbs moved to lean against the work table that sat in the middle of Abby's lab. "Did you let Anya use your cell phone to send a text message?"

Abby glanced at Anya, then back at Gibbs. "Yes. She said she needed to let a friend know she was okay. I read the text, Gibbs, there was nothing in it that gave any indication of where she was."

Gibbs nodded. So far, that matched what Anya had told him. He turned to Anya who had wondered over to look at the enlarged print of a colorful mold spore that was currently the lab's artwork. "I think you have something to say to Abby, young lady."

Abby had a sudden sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. She hated disappointing Gibbs, but she quickly reassured herself that she hadn't actually disobeyed him or broken any of his rules. Nobody had informed her that Anya wasn't to contact anyone – at least that was what she planned to argue in her own defense.

Anya moved over to stand in front of Abby and spoke so softly that the forensic scientist was only able to make out the words lied and phone.

"Wait a minute, what did you do?" Abby demanded.

Anya glanced back at Gibbs, who gave her a hard look and nodded toward Abby. "Tell her," he directed.

"Yeah, tell me, and don't leave anything out." Abby propped her hands on her hips and gave Anya an impatient look.

"I used your phone to send a text message to someone asking him to come to Gibbs' house to get me. I deleted that one and typed the one to my friend, Kat, which you saw – only it got sent to a number I made up." Anya met Abby's gaze for the first time. "I'm really sorry I lied to you."

"How could you do something like that?" Abby asked. "I thought I was helping you, only you used me to go behind Gibbs' back." She turned to Gibbs and said, "I'm really sorry, Gibbs, I had no idea. I would never have let her use my phone if I had known what she was going to do."

Gibbs moved to pull Abby into a hug. "I know," he whispered into her ear. "You've got to learn not to be so trusting of people, Abs. Sometimes a little skepticism is a good thing."

Abby moved out of the hug and yelped when a hard swat landed on her backside. "What was that for?" she demanded, turning to glare at Gibbs.

"To remind you to think things through a little more carefully next time." Gibbs turned to Anya. "Do you have anything else you want to say?"

Anya looked first at Abby, then to Gibbs. "Could I talk to her alone? Please?

"Abbs?" Gibbs asked, wanting to know her opinion.

Abby shrugged. She felt betrayed by Anya and really didn't have much to say to the girl. But, she was willing to listen. "Yeah, okay."

"Fine," he stated as he started toward the door. "I'll be back in twenty minutes." He gave Anya a pointed look. "Don't leave this room."

Anya resisted the urge to salute. Cheekiness probably wasn't the best response at the moment. "Yes, sir."

She waited until Gibbs had left before turning to Abby. "I'm really sorry I lied to you, and that I got you in trouble."

Abby tried to ignore the tears that she saw forming in Anya's eyes, but she wasn't quite successful. Still, she gave the girl a hard look that Gibbs would have been proud of. "How could you do something like that? I thought I was your friend, and that I could trust you."

Anya shrugged. She hadn't wanted to talk about this with Gibbs, and she supposed now was as good a time as any to discuss it with Abby. Maybe, she thought, if she could explain what had been going on in her head, the woman would forgive her and still be her friend. "I was scared, Abby. I still am."

"I know you're scare, Anya. But that still doesn't excuse what you did."

She resisted the urge to turn away from Abby's assessing gaze. "While I was sitting there waiting for Gibbs to get home I kept think about what would happen if Lubivich found me there. My dad might be willing to drag Gibbs and all of the rest of you into this, but I'm not. It's my mess, and I have to fix it. I can't do that if I'm stuck under Gibbs' thumb. Since I figured Lubivich might be trying to track me through my friends, I thought I could use someone else's cell phone to contact someone that he wouldn't think to connect to me."

That hadn't exactly been what Abby had expected to hear. "That's insane. Gibbs and the others can take care of themselves, and you. You might not know it, but they've survived encounters with people a whole lot scarier than some thug for the Russian mob. There isn't anybody who will keep you safer."

"Maybe," Anya conceded. She studied Abby's face for a moment. "Can you forgive me? I could really use a friend right now."

"I don't know, Anya. I really don't like being lied to." Abby thought for a moment. "But, I suppose we can try."

Anya stepped forward to envelope Abby in a hug, which she returned. "Thank you."

Upstairs, Tony met Gibbs as he stepped off the elevator into the bullpen. "Agent Dawson is downstairs. McGee has gone to escort her up. She said she has something she needs to tell us."

TBC

**Author's note: **I've posted this chapter a little ahead of schedule because I'm going to be traveling again next week. The next update will probably be a little later in coming, too.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

"Agent Dawson," Gibbs greeted as the FBI agent entered the bullpen behind McGee. "I understand you have something for us?" When she didn't answer quickly enough, he snapped, "well?"

Amy Dawson wondered if it was just her, but it seemed like Gibbs was grouchier than the last time she'd seen him. She looked around at the other members of his team, but their faces didn't reveal any clues. Of course, the members of Gibbs' team knew exactly why their leader was in such a bad mood, but they chose to say nothing about it. Sighing, she placed her brief case on a desk and, opening it, pulled out a compact disc. She passed the disc to McGee, who immediately moved to install it and pull the information up on the plasma screen.

"Our informant inside the Russian mob has slipped these surveillance pictures to us, along with information indicating that a hit has been ordered on Vladimir Lubivich." A series of photographs of the mobster appeared on the screen. One showed him getting into a late model luxury vehicle.

"Stop it right there," Gibbs ordered. "McGee, what kind of locator device does that model have and can you hack into it to find his location?"

"On it boss," McGee responded, already busily typing away at his computer.

"What do you know about this hit, Agent Dawson?" Gibbs asked, turning back to the FBI agent.

"No much beyond the fact that it's been ordered. We think one of the higher ups in the drug operation by the name of Alexander Titov has ordered it. From what we've been able to gather, the Russians want him out of the way even more than you do, Agent Gibbs." Her last comment earned Agent Dawson a hard stare from the NCIS special agent.

McGee interrupted. "I've found his car."

"Well?"

"It's, um, in the Metro Police impound yard. According to the records I accessed it's been there for the last three days."

"What do you mean 'the records you accessed?" Agent Dawson demanded. The looks Gibbs and every member of his team shot her way convinced her that this was not an avenue she should explore further. "Never mind," she quickly stated. "What were you saying?"

McGee continued as though he hadn't been interrupted. "The car was found abandoned off of Wisconsin Avenue." He paused as he read the report. "Boss, they found blood and bullet holes in the driver's seat."

"Lubivich's?" Gibbs asked.

"They don't know, or at least they haven't stated in their records yet. The abandoned vehicle was called in by a taxi driver."

"I hope the sonuvabitch is dead," Anya declared, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. No one had noticed her and Abby exit the elevator and enter the bullpen. "Then maybe I can get back to my life."

Tony was the first to break the silence. "We don't know yet if the blood belonged to Lubivich. For all we know, someone else was driving the vehicle when the shots were fired."

"Not to mention the fact that the vehicle isn't registered in Lubivich's name." McGee picked up the conversation. "Just because we have a picture of him getting into a vehicle, does mean it's his." He paused to take a breath. "We haven't been able to locate a vehicle or property registered in his name or in the name of any of his known aliases." At Gibbs' hard look, he continued, stammering slightly, "b.. but we're still looking."

Gibbs nodded and turned to look at Anya and Abby. "What are you doing up here? I thought I told you to stay in the lab until I came to get you?"

"Abby and I worked things out, and we talked a while." Anya paused and looked over her shoulder at Abby, who gave her a smile and nod of encouragement. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

Gibbs started to ask if this particular conversation could wait until they got home, but a movement from Abby caught his attention. She shook her head and quickly signed that he needed to talk to Anya now. Sighing, he stepped forward and motioned for Anya to follow. "Keep digging for any property in Lubivich's name. I want some answers when I get back." His team members responded with variations of "on it, boss," and quickly turned back to their computers.

Agent Dawson stood in the middle of the bullpen, totally at a loss. She didn't know whether she should quietly excuse herself or offer to help. "Is there anything I can do?"

McGee was the first to look up. "Are you able to access any of the FBI's databases from here?"

She nodded. "I think so – at least I should be able to access some of them. But, why would I need to do that. We've already gathered all of the available data on Lubivich. Wouldn't going back over it be a waste of time?"

"Never assume that just because something wasn't found the first time that there's nothing there to find," stated Tony, as he came to stand beside her.

"Tony is correct," Ziva chimed in, earning a smirk from the senior field agent. "Plus, you have more information now than you did the last time you looked."

"Okay," Agent Dawson replied, removing her jacket. She looked around the bullpen. The only empty computer was the one on Gibbs' desk. "Where should I work?"

Tony pointed to Gibbs' desk.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, its not like the bossman uses it for anything."

Meanwhile, Gibbs escorted Anya into the conference room and motioned for her to take a seat. She shook her head slightly and began pacing around the room. She knew that if she sat down and met Gibbs's gaze she would chicken out and wouldn't be able to say what she wanted to tell him. She wasn't sure she'd be able to say it anyway.

Sensing Anya's need for movement, Gibbs just shrugged and sat in one of the chairs. He watched her pace the room for several seconds before asking, "what is you need to tell me, Anya? Have you thought of anything else that might help us locate Lubivich?"

"No," Anya replied, stopping to look at Gibbs. She was slightly surprised that he'd asked that question. "I've told you everything I know about that."

"Then what is it?" Gibbs tried not to sound too impatient. He was anxious to get back downstairs to see if his team had managed to gather any more information on the Russian mobster.

Anya resumed pacing. "I know I've been acting like a spoiled brat lately." Before Gibbs could comment, she rushed on. "Not just with you, but with everyone."

"Yes, you have," the NCIS agent stated matter-of-factly.

She'd known this wasn't going to be easy, but she really hadn't expected Gibbs to be so blunt in his response.

"And I know all of this is my fault. If I hadn't gone to that club, none of this would be happening."

Gibbs nodded his agreement. "Go on," he directed. He sighed when Anya finally stopped pacing and turned to look at him. Finally, he thought. They were going to get somewhere with this conversation. But, he hadn't been expecting what Anya said next.

"I'm scared, Gibbs. I can't get rid of the feeling that somebody's going to die because of this." She reached up to wipe away the tear that was trailing down her cheek. "I don't mean Lubivich. I mean someone I care about, my dad, you or someone on your team. And it will be my fault."

Gibbs stood and pulled Anya into his arms and held her as she cried into his shoulder. Finally, when her sobs had subsided, he drew back so that he could look down into her tear-stained face. "Is that why you called your friend to come pick you up at my house?"

Anya nodded. "I thought that maybe if I left, then there would be no reason for Lubivich to come after anyone else."

Gibbs sighed. He didn't think now would be the time to tell her that Lubivich wasn't going to stop until he had taken care of everyone who might have information about his activities – including Anya's father. Although putting Lubivich behind bars would be a huge step in the right direction, the only sure way to stop Lubivich would be to kill him. But, in order for that to happen, they had to find him first.

"All you would have done if you'd left would be to put yourself and your father in even greater danger." Gibbs paused and waited until Anya's gaze met his. He wanted to be sure that there would be no mistaking his next words. "I can't promise you that nothing that like is going to happen." Gibbs knew better than anyone how impossible that promise could be to keep. "But, I will promise you that I will do everything within my power to prevent it."

Anya nodded.

"Good." He took a step back from her. "Let's go see if they've found anything."

_Later that evening_

"We are not ordering Chinese for dinner," Gibbs nearly growled in frustration. "End of discussion."

"So what are we going to have for dinner," Anya asked. She couldn't wait for the ride home to be over so she could get out of the car. "And why couldn't I ride with Tony, since he's in the car behind us?"

If Gibbs hadn't been driving, he'd have been tempted to strangle the girl sitting in the passenger seat of his car. "I don't know yet what we're going to home. You keep this up, and it'll be nothing but bread and water. And you can't ride with Tony because I said so. Why are we even still having this conversation?" He had hoped that Anya would have been more cooperative since their discussion in the conference room, but it hadn't taken long for the teenager to return to being antagonistic. He spared a glance at her as he pulled into the driveway. "What's gotten in you?"

"Nothing," she stated as she climbed out of the car and slammed the door behind her. "I'm just wondering how long I'm going to have to put up with your excuse for cooking." Ignoring Gibbs's order to wait, she started toward the house.

Gibbs was ready to spit nails. He clinched his hand into a fist, fighting the nearly overwhelming urge to deliver a punishing swat to Anya's backside. "I told you to wait," he said as he came up behind her and grabbed her arm to stop her progress. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but you'd better lose this attitude fast, or else you're not going to be able to sit down to eat dinner. You got me?"

Before she could respond, a shot rang out and a bullet slammed into a tree behind her. Gibbs drew his sidearm and shoved Anya to the ground in one fluid motion. Tony, who had been reconnoitering the perimeter of the house came running in a crouch, gun drawn.

"Where is he, boss?"

"I don't know." No more shots were fired, so Gibbs thought it was best to attempt to make a run for the house. "Cover us," he ordered as he pulled Anya to her feet and moved to shield her with his body. Several tense seconds followed while the two men and the teenage girl made their way into the house.

Once they were safely in the house, Gibbs gave Anya a push in the direction of the couch. "Get down behind that and don't come out until I tell you." He saw the rebellion still brewing in her eyes. "I don't have time to argue with you on this. Either do as you're told, or I'm going to tie you up and toss you into the basement." He hoped the treat would work, because he didn't want to have to take the time to carry out the threat.

The sound of sirens wailing in the distance was growing stronger. Gibbs assumed one of his neighbors had called the police after hearing the gun shot. He exchanged a look with Tony that clearly communicated the knowledge that once the police arrived they would lose the chance to track whoever was shooting at them.

"I don't know, boss," Tony interjected. "But, I suspect Lubivich has found out where Anya's hiding."

"Ya think, Dinozo," Gibbs responded sarcastically as he moved to answer the knock at his front door. He'd watched the police officer exit his cruiser and walk up onto the porch. Tucking the gun into the waistband of his jeans, he pulled out his badge and motioned for Tony to do the same. This was going to be a long night.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**See Chapter 1 for warnings and disclosures.**

**CHAPTER 7**

"Whatcha doin', Mr. Gibbs?" Mikey Simpson knew his neighbor was some type of police officer, but he wasn't sure what kind. He also knew that someone had fired a gun at Mr. Gibbs' house. Mikey had been in his tree house in the backyard and had heard all the noise. He wondered if he should tell Mr. Gibbs about the man he saw running away from Mrs. McNess' house after all the noise was over.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs looked up as the small voice interrupted his work. After the police had left, he'd called Ziva and McGee in to help investigate the shooting. It wasn't as if he didn't trust the Alexandria Police to do their jobs, but he wanted to find out for himself who had taken a shot at Anya. He and Ziva had just started searching the tree trunk for the bullet hole with the intentions of determining its trajectory. Recognizing his next door neighbor's six year old son, Gibbs nodded to Ziva to continue what she was doing and went to the hedge to speak with the boy.

"Hi, Mikey. Do your mom and dad know you're out here?" After what had happened, Gibbs was surprised that the boy's parents had allowed him outside to play.

"They aren't home. Jessie's here." Mikey proudly explained, naming a teenage girl from the neighborhood who often babysat him. "She said I could play in my tree house."

Gibbs nodded. He supposed any danger had passed, but he stepped through an opening in the hedge to walk Mikey back to his house. They were half-way up the walk when Mikey stopped and looked up at Gibbs.

"Are you imbestabegating the man who fired the gun at your house?" he asked.

Gibbs stopped cold in his tracks. Any amusement he would have felt over the boy's massacre of the word "investigating" was overwhelmed by the chill of fear that coursed up his spine. Had Mikey seen something that would put him in danger? He needed to talk to the boy to find out what he knew, but he didn't want to do so until the boy's parents were home. "Yes, I am," he answered in response to Mikey's question. "But, right now, I think it would be a good idea for you to play inside for a while, okay?"

"Okay," Mikey responded and took off running toward the porch. As he mounted the steps, Gibbs called after him.

"Mikey, would you ask Jessie to come out here for a minute?"

The teenage girl stepped out onto the porch just as Gibbs was climbing the steps. He wasn't all that surprised to see the cell phone she was carrying in her hand. "Jessie, when Mr. and Mrs. Simpson get home would you have them give me a call? It's extremely important that I speak to them as soon as possible."

Jessie knew who Gibbs was. Everyone in the neighborhood did. But she had never really interacted with him. The fact that he was asking her to do something slightly intimidated her. "Okay, sure."

"It's important, so don't forget," Gibbs reminded her as he turned to step off the porch and return to his own yard.

Ziva was waiting for him when he returned. "I have determined that the shooter was in that wooded area across the road," she said, pointing to a small stand of trees next to the house that sat across the street. Together, the two NCIS agents crossed the street and entered the copse of trees. Immediately, they spotted where the shooter had been standing. In the middle of an area of trampled grass lay a single bullet casing.

"He left in such a hurry he forgot to police his brass," Gibbs stated. He knelt beside the piece of brass, and using the tip of his ink pen, picked it up and put it in an evidence bag. His plan was to take it to Abby to check for fingerprints. With any luck, the shooter hadn't worn gloves when he loaded his gun, and they'd shortly know exactly who he was.

Gibbs glanced up at the sound of a car pulling into a nearby driveway. He watched as Steven and Judy Simpson got out of the vehicle and headed toward their house. Turning to Ziva, he handed her the evidence bag. "Get this to Abby. I'm going to go talk to Mikey's parents."

"You think the boy saw something?" Ziva asked as she placed the evidence bag in her pocket.

"I don't know, but Mikey seemed like he wanted to tell me something. And, that tree house of his would have given him the perfect angle to see the shooter." Gibbs started off toward the Simpson's home. "Take McGee with you and have him dig deeper into Agent Dawson's background. My gut's telling me there's more there than we're aware of." With that he started jogging across the street to try and catch Mikey's parents before they entered the house.

A few minutes later, Gibbs sat at the Simpsons' kitchen table, sipping a cup of coffee while Mikey was enjoying a glass of milk and a chocolate chip cookie. "Mikey, you think you could help me with my investigation?"

"Uh huh," Mikey said around a bite of cookie. He thought that helping Mr. Gibbs sounded like fun. "Whatta I gotta do?" he asked, after he swallowed the bite that was in his mouth.

"You just have to answer some questions for me. You think you can do that?"

Mikey nodded.

"Good boy. You told me earlier that you'd been playing in your tree house."

Mikey nodded in response.

"Were you there when someone fired a gun at my house?" He glanced up and gave a slight shake of his head when he heard Judy Simpson's sound of distress.

"I was playing pirates, and I heard the loud noise. I didn't know what it was, so I looked out the window and saw a man running away from Mrs. McNess' house. It looked like he was carrying a gun, but it didn't look like my water gun. It was big and black." Mikey looked over at his parents for support. His dad smiled as he rested his arm around his son's shoulder.

"Did you see what color hair the man had?" Gibbs asked, pulling his notebook out of his pocket so he could take notes.

Mikey nodded. "It was black, like that lady at the tree."

Gibbs assumed the boy was talking about Ziva, but decided it would probably be a good idea to clarify that fact. "Do you mean the lady who was helping me look at the tree earlier?"

"Uh huh."

Okay, Gibbs thought. The man was either dark-headed, which matched Lubivich's description, or he had been wearing a dark cap. "Did you see which way he was running?"

Again, Mikey nodded. "He went toward Mr. Patrick's house, and I saw him get in a white car. He left after that."

Gibbs held his hand out to Mikey, who shook it. "You've been a big help, Mikey. Thank you." He finished the rest of his coffee and stood to leave. Steven walked with him to the front of the house.

"Is Mikey in danger from what he saw?"

Gibbs turned to look Steven in the eye. "I don't think so. Whoever that man was, he was too busy trying to get away to look up in the trees on the off chance some kid might be in a tree house watching everything. But, it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on him anyway." Gibbs handed him a business card. "I know you've got my home number, but these are my cell and work numbers. If you see or hear anything that worries you, give me a call."

"What's going on?" Steven asked, accepting the card.

Gibbs knew better than to divulge too much information. "Sorry, that's classified. But, I can tell you it's nothing that you need to be worried about." Gibbs stepped out of the front door and flipped open his cell phone to call Tony to let him know what was happening. He then started in the direction of Patrick Conley's house to see the shooter had left anything else behind.

_Back at NCIS:_

Ziva walked into Abby's lab and was momentarily stunned when she realized the gothic forensic scientist was wearing a poodle skirt and a twin set. Abby's back hair wasn't in her customary braided pig tails, but was worn in a single pony tail that was wrapped in a filmy scarf.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Abby?" Ziva asked. Although she had not spent a great deal of time with Abby outside of work, she imagined her current attire was unusual, even for her.

Abby paused in the process of putting on her white lab coat and turned to look at Ziva. "I was on my way to the bowling alley when you called." She finished pulling the coat on. "I didn't take time to change."

"Bowling alley?" Ziva asked.

"The sisters and I were starting a bowling tournament tonight." Abby shrugged. "Sister Agatha is going to fill in for me." Seeing the evidence bag that Ziva was holding, she held out her hand.

After giving the evidence bag to Abby, Ziva returned to the bullpen where McGee was busily working away at his computer. This was the part of her job that Ziva disliked most. She was meant for action, not sitting behind a desk digging into people's lives or making telephone calls to gather information.

Ziva knew what Gibbs suspected, but as she continued to work she became more and more frustrated. Nothing she uncovered was helpful - everything indicated that Special Agent Amy Dawson was clean. She was beginning to wonder if Gibbs's infamous gut was somehow wrong.

"I think I've found something," McGee stated just as the elevator dinged and Abby came rushing out.

"I've got something, too," Abby stated as she entered the bullpen. "Let's call Gibbs and tell him." She started to reach for her cell, but Ziva was already dialing her desk phone.

"Gibbs, Gibbs," Abby called as she literally bounced over to Ziva's desk. "McGee and I both have something for you."

"Well?" came the terse reply.

McGee gestured for Abby to go first. "I ran the bullet casing for finger prints. The casing was for a 7.62 mm bullet. It's a caliber that isn't used much here in the U.S., but it's popular with the Russian military. There's been a series of shootings in the Washington D.C. area using that caliber, and the police think they're tied to the Russian mafia. Which I suppose makes sense, if you're going to shoot someone to send a message, you might as well use ammunition that can be tied to you. Otherwise, how would the person you intended to get the message to know it was from you? Although, now that I think about it, that would be dumb, too, since it would connect the shooting to you . . ."

"Abby," Gibbs stern voice interrupted.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, Gibbs." Abby paused to take a breath and rearrange her thoughts. "I was able to lift a partial print from the casing and matched it to an Ivan Carter. He's got a criminal record, mostly theft offenses, but the Metro Police want to question him in connection with a shooting that happened last week outside a Russian dinner."

McGee quickly pulled up information on his computer. "According to the FBI, Ivan Carter is a suspected member of the Russian mob and an associate of Vladimir Lubivich. It's not really known for sure, but they suspect he's either muscle or part of the chain of command." When McGee glanced up from his computer, he wore a surprised look on his face. "The FBI records indicate that he's from the same small town in southeastern Kentucky as Agent Dawson."

"That sounds kinky," Ziva stated.

"I think you mean hinky," Abby corrected, absent mindedly, earning a smirk from Ziva.

"You know how I feel about coincidences," Gibbs stated.

"There's no such thing," McGee responded. "That's not all. I hacked into Agent Dawson's bank records. She's been making substantial deposits on a regular basis. The deposits aren't her paychecks, those show up as coming from the U.S. Government, just like ours do. These have only a numbered reference and occur about once a month, sometimes twice a month for the last year."

"Have you tracked down the source of those deposits?"

"Not yet, I was about to when Abby came up here with her news."

"Track them down. Ziva, I want you to call Agent Dawson and ask her to come by in the morning. Tell her we found some information about Lubivich we want to share with her. We want her to come in voluntarily, so we don't tip him off."

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**See Chapter 1 for warnings and disclosures**

**CHAPTER 8**

Gibbs strode into the bullpen and pointed toward a chair in front of his desk. "Sit," he ordered, not even glancing at Anya. His infamous gut was telling him something major was wrong, but he couldn't tell if it was with Anya or with Agent Dawson. He didn't have long to wait. His cell phone rang just as Anya brushed past him and plopped down into the chair.

"Yeah, Gibbs," he answered.

"Is this Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs with NCIS?"

Gibbs thought about being snide in his response, but decided against it. "Yes, who wants to know?"

"Agent Gibbs, this is Detective Michael Long from the Metro Police."

A chill passed through Gibbs. Whatever the detective was calling about, it couldn't be good. His first thought was McGee, who was scheduled to go to the Metro Police headquarters that morning to gather more information about the impounded car.

"Do you know a man by the name of Peter Sokolov?" Detective Long continued.

"I do," Gibbs responded, the feeling of dread grew even stronger. "What is this about?"

"I am attempting to locate his daughter, Anya. Information he provided indicated that you might know where she is."

"She's in my protective custody, and I'm not going to discuss it further over an unsecured cell phone. You will need to come to NCIS if you want to get more information."

Anya had been sitting slumped in the chair that Gibbs had directed her to. However, the last part of Gibbs's conversation drew her attention, and she sat up straighter, a worried expression on her face. "What is it?" she asked, not waiting until Gibbs had disconnected the call.

"Very well," Detective Long replied. "I'll be there within the hour."

Gibbs snapped the cell phone shut and turned to study Anya. "That was a detective with the Metro Police. He's looking for you. Have you done anything I need to know about?"

Anya was confused. Yes, she'd done some things in the past that would have gotten the police involved, but nothing lately. That was, unless they were getting involved in the Vladimir Lubivich fiasco too. "No, not that I can think of. I don't have a clue why they'd be interested in me."

Gibbs nodded, but before he could investigate this newest development any further, his cell phone rang again. He was tempted to lock the thing in his desk, but he had agents in the field and wanted to be reachable at all times. "Yeah, Gibbs."

"Boss, Agent Dawson isn't home," DiNozzo immediately replied. "Ziva and I checked with her neighbors, and nobody has seen her since yesterday morning." There was a pause. "Shit."

"What is it, DiNozzo?" Gibbs wasn't sure if his blood pressure could take any more surprises. He glanced up as the elevator dinged and nearly cursed himself when FBI Agent Tobias Fornell stepped off.

"You will never guess who just showed up."

"The FBI," Gibbs responded.

"Yeah, but how did you know? Abby keeps saying you've got these special powers that let you know when she's got something, do those powers extend outside the building?" Tony asked. Seeing as how he was outside of head-slapping range, he felt no danger in teasing his boss a little.

"Oh, I don't know, DiNozzo, it couldn't be the fact that I'm looking at Fornell's ugly face, now could it? You and Ziva find out what the FBI is doing there and then get back here as soon as you can." He flipped the cell phone shut, ending the call before Tony could reply.

Fornell glanced at the girl as he walked through the bull pen to stand in front of Gibbs. He wondered briefly who she was and, dressed like that, if she was any relation to NCIS's forensic scientist. "What do you think you're doing, Gibbs?" Fornell demanded as he stopped in front of the NCIS agent.

"What does it look like I'm doing, Tobias. I'm working. Are you just here to bug me, or is there a reason for this visit?" Gibbs glanced over as McGee stepped into the bull pen.

"I'm here to find out why NCIS is interfering with an FBI investigation – again," Tobias nearly snarled. He counted Leroy Jethro Gibbs among his friends – after all, they had an ex-wife in common – but he was tired of butting heads with the man.

Ignoring Fornell, Gibbs turned to McGee. "Take Anya down to Abby's lab." He turned a pointed look in Anya's direction. "Make sure she stays there until you're told otherwise."

Anya shot to her feet. "You have no right to send me away like I'm a child." She gestured toward Fornell. "What he's here about has something to do with Lubivich, I know it. I have the right to stay and hear what it is."

Gibbs stepped around Fornell and moved into Anya's personal space. The teenager resisted the urge to take a step back, which would have resulted in the seat of the chair she's just vacated hitting her in the back of the knees. "You might not want to mistake that for a request." When she responded with a mutinous stare, Gibbs sighed. He didn't know if he'd ever get through to this girl. "Or do we need to repeat our previous discussions regarding your attitude and doing as you are told?"

Anya understood completely what Gibbs was alluding to, and she had no desire to take another trip across his knee anytime soon. "No, sir."

"Then you will go with McGee down to the lab and you will stay there until someone comes to get you. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," she replied, not quite keeping the resentment out of her voice.

"Then why are you still here?" Gibbs demanded, taking a step back to give her space. He watched as the teenager and his computer expert left the bull pen and moved quickly toward the stairs before turning back to Fornell, who had been watching the exchange with interest.

"Taking up babysitting as a hobby, Gibbs?" Fornell asked. He had been only half paying attention to the little drama until the girl had mentioned Lubivich. The FBI's investigation into Vladimir Lubivich was part of the reason why he was at NCIS. Still, Fornell had to admire the way Gibbs had handled the situation. He only hoped he'd do half as well when his daughter, Emily, entered her rebellious teenage years.

Gibbs ignored the comment. "You still haven't told me why you're here."

"I told you why I'm here, Gibbs. NCIS is interfering with an FBI investigation – again. And, I want to know why."

"My office," Gibbs stated and strode off in the direction of the elevator, not waiting to see if Fornell was following. Once they were inside, Gibbs punched the button for a lower floor. After the elevator started its descent, he flipped a switch, which stopped the car's progress. "What's this about, Tobias?"

Tobias understood the unspoken statement that Gibbs didn't know what the FBI agent was talking about. "I'm talking about our investigation into Vladimir Lubivich as well as our investigation into Amy Dawson. Who was that girl, and what is her involvement with Lubivich?"

"Who is the lead agent on the Lubivich investigation?" Gibbs asked. His gut was telling him that he was not going to like the answer.

"I am," Tobias responded. "And you haven't answered my question."

Gibbs cursed and proceeded to tell Tobias the entire story from the time he met with Peter Sokolov and took Anya into his custody through the shooting that had happened the evening before. When he was finished, it was Tobias Fornell's turn to curse.

"I've been investigating Vladimir Lubivich and his connections with the Russian mafia for about a year now. Dawson was part of the team I'd put together. But she was a researcher, not a field agent."

Gibbs didn't miss Tobias' use of the word "was." He recalled that Agent Dawson had been the only representative from the FBI he'd dealt with through out this entire matter. He hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but how his gut was heading into hyperactive mode.

"A few months into our investigation, I started getting suspicious of Dawson. A few times, I found her in places where she shouldn't be and Lubivich was always one step ahead of us." He paused to look at Gibbs, the unspoken statement that Lubivich was being tipped off was clear in his eyes.

"Gibbs, I don't know how Anya Sokolov plays into this. She was never even on my radar as a potential witness. In fact, I'd never heard her name until today. If I had, maybe I'd have been able to build enough of a case against Lubivich to get him off the street before it was too late."

That last statement caught Gibbs's attention. "What do you mean, 'before it was too late?'" he demanded.

"Lubivich was fished out of the Potomac two weeks ago. He's currently in the FBI's morgue. Whoever's after your girl, it isn't Lubivich."

Gibbs let out a string of curses vile enough to make a marine blush. "What does Dawson have to do with this?"

"She was placed on administrative leave a month ago pending review. I've gathered enough information to charge her with conspiracy and a whole bunch of other crimes. Until McGee hacked into her bank records last night, I had no idea there was anything going on other than our investigation. I decided it was time to bring her in for formal questioning and sent agents over to her place this morning to pick her up while I came to talk to you."

"I was on the phone with DiNozzo when your agents showed up. Dawson is in the wind. Nobody has seen her since yesterday morning." Gibbs reached to flip the switch back on so the elevator could resume its journey. "I've got some information about Dawson's association with a man by the name of Ivan Carter you might find interesting."

Fornell sighed and leaned back to rest his head against the wall of the elevator. "What is the term you jarheads use to describe a situation like this?" he asked, glancing at Gibbs. The NCIS agent had taken a similar stance beside him.

"FUBAR?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

* * *

While Gibbs and Fornell were holding their discussion in the elevator, McGee was escorting Anya to Abby's lab. He was quickly growing tired of listening to Anya's ranting about Gibbs's order for her to be taken to the lab. Finally, having heard enough, he grasped Anya's arm and pulled her to a stop.

"You need to chill out, Anya. Gibbs had a reason for sending you down to stay with Abby, and this ranting you're doing isn't going to change that."

Anya was determined that she was going to find out what Gibbs and Fornell were discussing and how it affected her. Of all of the NCIS agents, she felt McGee was the one who would be the easiest for her to get around – outside of Abby, anyway. But, she had promised Abby she wouldn't use her any more, so she had to do something before they reached the lab. She just had to figure out how to get away from him. Considering her next move carefully she tried to pull her arm out of McGee's grasp, but his grip was too strong. This was going to be harder than she thought.

Tim sighed at Anya's response. "I mean it, Anya. Gibbs has his reasons for everything he does, and going against him is only going to make things worse. Besides, if what he and Agent Fornell discuss affects you, he will talk to you about it. He won't keep you in the dark." He started toward the lab again, pulling a reluctant Anya behind him. "Come on, let's go."

When Anya tried to pull her arm out of his grasp again, he didn't resist. But he did turn to glare at her.

"I need to go to the restroom," the girl stated. She hoped he would point her in the direction of the ladies' room and continue on his way, expecting her to continue to the lab on her own after she was finished.

McGee glanced in the direction of the lab. "There's one just around the corner," he stated and walked off in that direction. He glanced back and was relieved to see Anya following him. When they turned the corner, he pointed out the door to the ladies' room. "I'll wait for you out here," he stated. They were in the basement, and he assumed since the ladies' room, just like the men's room, was in the middle of the building, there were no exterior windows Anya could use in an attempt to escape.

"You don't need to do that," Anya replied, stopping in the half-opened restroom door. "I know the way to Abby's lab from here."

McGee refrained from smirking. Anya had just confirmed his suspicions – she was planning something. "That's okay, I'll wait for you. Go on."

Inwardly seething, Anya entered the restroom without making any further comments. The room was small, containing only two stalls and a single sink, so she had no difficulty seeing that there was no way for her to leave the room without McGee being aware. That only served to fuel the anger brewing in her belly, and she lingered long enough that McGee threatened to come in after her.

Leaving the restroom, she brushed past McGee without saying a word and continued down the hallway to Abby's lab. Abby was away from the lab, so McGee directed Anya to sit down at the desk in the office. He took the chair opposite her and pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

* * *

Fornell took his leave and promised to keep Gibbs updated on what he uncovered. Gibbs returned the promise and stepped out of the elevator. He was slightly surprised to see that Tony and Ziva had returned from Agent Dawson's apartment. He was also slightly weary of the stranger who was standing with them.

When Gibbs entered the bull pen, the stranger approached and held out his hand. "Agent Gibbs, I presume?"

Gibbs nodded and shook the man's proffered hand. "Detective Michael Long, Metro Police."

"Could I see some ID, please?" Gibbs asked. The man had the bearing and demeanor of a detective, but after what he'd just learned, he wasn't taking any chances. After examining Detective Long's badge and identification card, Gibbs handed them back. "What can I do for you, Detective?"

Detective Long glanced at Tony and Ziva. "Is there someplace we could go to discuss this in private?"

"Whatever it is you have to say to me you can say in front of my team," Gibbs responded, crossing his arms over his chest, signifying that he wasn't going to budge.

The detective nodded. "I'm here about Peter Sokolov and his daughter Anya. I understand from our earlier conversation that she is in your custody."

"She is," Gibbs relied. "What is this about?"

Ignoring Gibbs's question, Detective Long continued, "how do you know Peter Sokolov, Agent Gibbs?"

"We're old friends. And, you haven't told me yet what this is about."

"I'm sorry to inform you, Agent Gibbs, Peter Sokolov is dead."

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

I need to send a very belated shout out to gaben, whose comment sparked the idea for the plot twist involving Agent Dawson. I do read your comments, and often they will trigger ideas that I hadn't even considered, so keep them coming.

**CHAPTER 9**

"_I'm sorry to inform you, Agent Gibbs, Peter Sokolov is dead."_

Gibbs studied Detective Long in stunned silence for several moments before finally asking, "when and how?" He glanced at Tony and Ziva and saw that they were now paying close attention to the conversation between himself and Detective Long.

"It happened last night about 23:00," he said, using military time. "As for the how, it was a hit and run." Detective Long also noticed the close attention the two other agents were paying to his conversation. "You sure you want to do this here?"

"I am." He nodded toward the two members of his team, "Special Agents Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David. As I said earlier, they are part of my team." Turning back to the detective, Gibbs had to force himself not to glare. "What aren't you telling me?"

"From what the witnesses have said, it looks like Sokolov walked right out into the middle of traffic and was hit by an SUV. It appears he was reading something and stepped right off the curb into the path of the vehicle. The SUV took off, and what few people were on the street at that hour rushed to Sokolov's aid." Detective Long shook his head. "Nobody thought to even attempt to get the vehicle's license plate."

"When I started investigating this case, I entered Mr. Sokolov's home and found a note on his kitchen table. The note said that if anything happened to him, I could contact you about his daughter, Anya's, whereabouts."

"Did it say anything else? Give any indication of what he might be worried about happening?"

"No, just to contact you about Anya." Detective Long considered Gibbs for a moment. He knew there was something the NCIS agent wasn't telling him. "Do you know anything, Agent Gibbs, that might be useful in my investigation? If so, I'd like to hear it, because at this point I'm leaning toward Mr. Sokolov's death being either an accident or suicide."

Gibbs sighed. "Anya Sokolov is in my protective custody. She was someplace she shouldn't have been and overheard something involving a Russian mobster by the name of Vladimir Lubivich. From what my team and I have been told and have been able to gather, Lubivich went after Anya to try and prevent her from testifying. She was subsequently put under protective custody with the FBI, but she wasn't exactly cooperative. An attempt was made on her life when she ran from the FBI's safe house. Peter Sokolov and I have been friends for a long time, and he asked me to take over Anya's protective custody. He was afraid the FBI wouldn't be able to keep her safe."

Detective Long nodded. "You think his death might have something to do with that?"

"I don't know. I've just learned that Lubivich has been dead for two weeks, but an attempt was made on Anya's life last night." Gibbs heard Ziva's and Tony's quietly spoke oaths, but ignored them. He would discuss what he had learned from Fornell with them after Detective Long had left. "Somehow, I don't think what happened to Peter is tied to what's going on with Anya." Gibbs made a split second decision to not share their suspicions about Agent Dawson and Ivan Carter. That information would only serve to cloud the issues surrounding Peter's death.

"But you do know something you aren't telling me. You are a law enforcement officer, Agent Gibbs. You know that I need all available information at my disposal if I'm going to find out what happened to Peter Lubivich," stated Detective Long, earning a hard glare from Gibbs.

Gibbs chose to ignore Detective Long's censuring comment and continued as though the man had not spoken. "When Peter came to see me to ask me to take over Anya's protective custody he confided in me that he had recently been diagnosed with cancer and was given only a few months. It's not out of the realm of possibility that he decided to commit suicide by walking out into the middle of traffic rather than succumb to the disease."

Again, Gibbs' team members expressed their surprise at this information. However, they weren't all that surprised that the information had been kept secret. Their boss wasn't one for divulging information unless it was important, and if Peter Sokolov wanted his cancer diagnosis kept secret, that was exactly what Gibbs would do unless he had no other choice.

"Does his daughter know about his cancer?" Detective Long asked.

"No, and I don't know if I'm going to tell her."

Again, Detective Long nodded. He pulled a business card out of the inside breast pocket of his jacket and handed it to Gibbs. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you to give me a call if you remember anything or find something out that could help my investigation." Before Gibbs could respond, he continued, "and I'll return the favor."

The three NCIS agents watched as he turned and walked toward the elevator. Ziva was the first to speak. "Poor Anya, to lose her father that way." She turned to look at Gibbs. "Do you think he really could have committed suicide?"

Gibbs shrugged. His mind was telling him that suicide didn't fit with the man he thought he knew, but his gut was telling him something else. "I don't know, Ziva."

Without looking at his agents, Gibbs began walking toward the elevator. "Get McGee back up here. Tell him to leave Anya with Abby."

"Where are you going, boss?" Tony asked.

"I'm going to talk to Ducky. While I'm gone, I want you to track down every connection you can find between Lubivich, Dawson, and Carter." Gibbs paused. He really didn't want to consider the possibility of his next thought, but it was there. "And find out if there is anything that connects Peter Sokolov to those three or the Russian mob."

"Gibbs, you really don't think Peter was involved in all of this do you?" Ziva was the first to respond. She was no stranger to secrets and betrayal, but was still somewhat naïve when it came to those actions in others.

"I don't know," Gibbs responded as the elevator doors closed.

* * *

"Jethro, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard stated when Gibbs stepped into Autopsy. "As far as I know, I'm not working on anything you are investigating."

"Need some advice, Duck," Gibbs stated as he moved to lean against one of the empty autopsy tables.

"Would this have anything to do with your young charge?"

"It does," Gibbs stated and proceed to fill Ducky in on what was going on.

"That poor girl," Ducky shook his head in sympathy. "I agree that she needs to be told of her father's death right away. But, the question is does she need to know about his cancer and your suspicions?" The medical examiner looked closely at his friend. "What are your instincts telling you?"

"That's just it. My gut is telling me there's more going on here than Peter committing suicide rather than succumb to cancer. I don't know if Anya needs to hear my suspicions, especially since I don't have anything to back them up."

Ducky moved to stand beside Gibbs and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Tell her what you know. If your suspicions prove true, then you can tell her if you think she needs to know. But for now, she will have enough to deal with without adding to the burden."

Gibbs sighed. The medical examiner had just confirmed what his paternal instincts had been telling him. "Thanks, Duck."

* * *

A few minutes later, Gibbs stepped into the forensics lab and immediately spotted Anya sitting on a high stool chatting with Abby while the scientist performed some kind of testing. He stood in the door and watched them for a moment.

Abby was the first to spot him. "Gibbs, what are you doing down here?"

"I need to talk to you about something, Anya," Gibbs said, coming further into the room.

At the sound of her name, Anya turned to look at Gibbs. She wasn't sure what the expression on his face meant, but she was sure she wasn't going to like it. "What's wrong?" she asked, coming to her feet.

"Let's go sit down in Abby's office," Gibbs directed, taking Anya by the arm and helping her off the stool. He led her into Abby's office, where he motioned for her to sit in the desk chair. Gibbs then pulled the visitor's chair around and sat in front of her, their knees nearly touching.

Abby followed and stood in the doorway. There was no way she was going to continue working. She could tell from Gibbs's demeanor that something was seriously wrong.

Gibbs took a deep breath. There was no easy way to say what he had to say, so he plunged right in. "Anya, a Metro Police detective came by to see me this morning."

"About what?" Anya knew she hadn't done anything in a while that would have drawn the attention of the Metro Police. She had been so careful to stay out of trouble that she'd been surprised when the FBI had approached her about Lubivich.

"Anya, your father was killed in a hit and run accident late last night," Gibbs stated and watched Anya's face as the meaning of what he had just said sank in.

"No," she cried, shaking her head. "That can't be. They made a mistake. It was somebody who just looked like my father, or somebody with the same name. It can't be him." At first she tried to pull away as Gibbs leaned forward and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Anya, but there's no mistake." He held Anya tight as she cried on his shoulder. Gibbs felt a bit awkward. He had never been any good with crying females, and grieving ones were even harder to deal with. But, he continued to do what felt natural and rubbed Anya's back in what he hoped was a soothing gesture.

A noise in the doorway caught his attention, and he looked over his shoulder just as Abby was closing the sliding glass door. Gibbs knew that she had been listening and assumed she was now giving them some privacy.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity to Gibbs, Anya pulled back out of his embrace and ran a hand over her wet cheeks. "What happened?"

"The police are still investigating, but it looks like he was distracted and stepped out into traffic. He was hit by a vehicle, which took off." Gibbs thought it best not to mention the note Detective Long had found in Peter's house. The very presence of the note indicated to him that Peter had either been expecting trouble or had been planning on doing something.

"Are they sure it was him? There's no mistake?"

"They're sure. A neighbor saw the whole thing and identified your father to the EMT who arrived on the scene."

Anya nodded. "I want to see him."

Gibbs understood her need and squeezed Anya's hand. "I'll get in touch with Detective Long and make arrangements. In the meantime, do you want me to find someplace for you to lie down?"

Anya shook her head and glanced over at Abby, who was unsuccessfully trying to look as if she was working. "No. I'll do better if I keep busy. Maybe there's something I can do to help Abby other than just keep her company."

Gibbs nodded. "Let's go see."

Leaving Anya with Abby, Gibbs left the NCIS building to go for a cup of coffee. The coffee run was as much about gathering his thoughts as it was about the caffeine hit.

A few minutes later, his head clearer and half of the large cup of coffee gone, Gibbs stepped into the bullpen. He was surprised to see that the only other person there was Tim McGee. "Report."

McGee jumped slightly at the sound of Gibbs's voice. He had been concentrating so hard on what he was reading that he hadn't heard his boss enter the bullpen. "Um, we located Dawson and Carter. Interestingly, they were together. Tony and Ziva took some back up and went to go pick them up. They should be back shortly. In the meantime, I've been going through their phone records and e-mail accounts. There's no doubt they've been working together."

At Gibbs's questioning look, McGee rose from his desk and handed him a stack of paper. "I pulled these emails from Carter's e-mail account. I have identified the sender as Agent Dawson. I'm in the process of going through her account now, but it looks like she deleted the messages." Gibbs looked up at him expectantly. "Of course, despite what most people think, deleting a message doesn't really erase it. It's still out there. It's just not visible. I may need to access her computer's hard drive to trace the e-mails directly to her, though."

"Request a warrant," instructed Gibbs.

"Already done. I'm hoping it will come through before Tony and Ziva head back. That is if Dawson uses a laptop and has it with her. If she uses a desk top, we'll have to retrieve it from her apartment."

"Do whatever you need to do to get that information, McGee. I don't need to know how you do it, I just want results."

"Yes, boss." McGee hesitated. "There's one more thing. Actually, there's two more things. I'm finding e-mails from a third party that I haven't yet been able to trace. That third party may be who is pulling the strings now that Lubivich is dead." Tony had filled McGee in on what they had learned from Fornell.

Gibbs stared hard at McGee. "Well, why are you talking about it rather than trying to identify this mysterious third party?"

McGee nodded and hurried back to his desk. "I'm just going to get back to work."

"Wait a minute," Gibbs interrupted. "You said there were two things. What's the other one?"

"Oh, yeah. There was package delivered to you by special currier. I put it on your desk." McGee started to turn back to his computer. "Boss?"

"What is it, McGee?" Gibbs asked somewhat impatiently as he moved to pick up the envelope McGee had indicated.

"I assume you've told Anya about her father."

"Yeah, so?"

"Is she okay?" The concern was evident in McGee's voice.

Gibbs's demeanor softened slightly. His computer expert was genuinely concerned about the young woman, and Gibbs could in no way fault him for that. "She's doing as well as can be expected. I left her helping Abby in the lab. She wanted something to keep her mind busy."

McGee nodded, understanding the need for that. After all, in the days and weeks that followed Caitlyn Todd's death in the line of duty, unless he kept busy his mind wondered to places he'd rather not have been. He supposed it was the same for Anya. "If there's anything I can do to help, just say the word." He turned back to his computer and resumed trying to unearth information on the mysterious third party.

Gibbs nodded. "Thanks, McGee."

Lifting the envelope from his desk, Gibbs looked at the return address and his blood ran cold. Written in Cyrillic were the words "the truth lies within."

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** I've come to the conclusion that I really ought to outline my stories before I write them instead of making them up as I go along. I'm afraid this one has gotten way too complicated. Oh well, I've often said I'm not known for going things the easy way. I just hope I've managed a reasonable and satisfying way out of the mess.

**CHAPTER 10**

Gibbs stared at the envelope in his hand. A feeling of dread took root in his gut. Taking a deep breath, he broke the seal on the envelope and pulled out the papers contained inside. Gibbs didn't need to look at the signature line to know who the hand written letter was from. The first thing Gibbs noticed was that the letter was dated prior to his meeting with Peter.

He didn't get any further than that before he was distracted by a commotion at the elevators. Gibbs looked over to see DiNozzo manhandling Ivan Carter out of the car, while Ziva was doing the same with Amy Dawson. It didn't escape the senior agent's notice that all four people looked a little worse for wear. Their clothing was dirty and torn in places, and Ziva's hair, which had been neatly pulled back into a ponytail, was in disarray. The two agents who had gone along as back up weren't in much better shape. "Thanks for your help, guys," he said as they passed by him on the way to their desks on the other side of the room.

Gibbs stood, and as he pulled out his cell phone, intending to call Fornell he said, "take them down to Interrogation." He knew the FBI agent would want to observe, if not participate in, his interrogation of Amy Dawson. Although, Gibbs was of half a mind to let Ziva have the first crack at the woman. There were times when the former Mossad could be even more intimidating then he was. Plus, he had noticed that Ziva had never truly trusted the FBI agent and knew she would be able to use that to her advantage.

Gibbs glanced down at the papers in his hand. He silently cursed Peter. The letter was written in Russia. While he spoke the language fluently, he was less skilled in reading it. It was going to take him time to make his way through the document – time that was going to be better spent obtaining information to bring this whole fiasco to a close. Gibbs slid the letter back in the envelope and tossed it on his desk.

"McGee," he turned to his junior agent.

"Yeah, boss?" the computer looked up from the monitor he was studying.

"You find any connection between Dawson and Carter, or between those two and Peter?"

"I've pulled Dawson's and Carter's cell phone records. In the last month there have been over fifty calls between them. I e-mailed the list of dates and times to you."

"You couldn't just print it out and hand it to me?" Gibbs asked. With a glare in McGee's direction, he turned to his computer to pull up his e-mail to check the document. He hated using the computer and had been pulled into the electronic age kicking and screaming.

McGee swallowed hard. He started to apologize, but remembered Gibbs's rule before the words were spoken. Instead he continued with his report. "There was a number that both Dawson and Carter called frequently, with the number of calls increasing over the last week." McGee paused when his computer dinged. The information he had been waiting for had arrived. "I've traced the number," he stated as his glanced at the information displayed on the monitor. "It belongs to Peter Sokolov." To say McGee was surprised at the news would have been an understatement. "But, boss, why would Dawson and Carter be calling Peter?"

Somehow Gibbs wasn't all that surprised at McGee's revelation. He had a bad feeling that he was about to find out that Peter Sokolov was not the man he thought he knew. He grabbed the pages containing the logs of Dawson's and Carter's telephone calls off the printer. "I don't know, McGee, but I'm going to find out."

"That's a good question. One I'd like to hear the answer to myself," Fornell stated as he stepped into the bullpen.

"What are you doing here, Tobias?"

"Seems I heard a rumor about two of your agents getting into a fight with one of my agents and her friend before arresting them and bringing them here. I'd like to hear what that was all about."

Gibbs feigned a look of surprise and turned to McGee. "Something happen that I should know about, McGee?"

McGee just barely managed to maintain a straight face as he answered. "No, it wasn't me boss. It must have been Tony and Ziva."

Gibbs simply turned and looked at Fornell, who returned the glare with one of his own.

Before anything could be said by either man, McGee interrupted. "I've got something, boss."

As one they turned to look at the computer expert. "Well?" Gibbs asked, somewhat impatiently.

"I've been digging through Amy Dawson's records. The warrant we obtained allowed me to access her online computer records. Something didn't feel right, but I couldn't put my figure on exactly what it was. Finally, while going through her personal e-mail account, I stumbled across something that helped me track it down." McGee glanced up to see that both agents were glaring at him impatiently.

"Right," he stated. He put a picture of Agent Dawson on the plasma screen. "Turns out Amy Dawson's grandmother was Russian. She immigrated to the United States as a child shortly after the Russian Revolution in 1917."

"This is relevant how?" asked Gibbs.

"Her grandmother's maiden name was Lubivich. Amy Dawson and Vladimir Lubivich were cousins."

Gibbs cocked an eyebrow in Fornell's direction. The silent question was clear in his face – how did the FBI miss that on a background check? "And people wonder why I don't trust the FBI."

Fornell cursed. "Damn stupid pencil pushers, can't do a thorough background check. We've got a family member of a Russian mobster working right under our noses. How the hell did they miss that?"

"In all fairness, it was buried pretty deep," McGee stated, trying to play devil's advocate. His comment was met with another round of cold stares.

"Let's get down to Interrogation to find out what our guests know."

Down in Interrogation, the show was starting to get very interesting. Rather than separate Dawson and Carter, as they normally would have, Tony and Ziva decided to take a chance and put them in the same room. They figured it would be interesting to observe the two suspects and see what they would talk about.

"You would have thought she would know better," commented Ziva as she stood in the observation room, watching Amy Dawson argue with Ivan Carter. She was ranting at him for being careless in going after Anya on his own.

"Well," Tony commented, "at least we know that the attempt on Anya wasn't necessarily sanctioned by anyone."

"What makes you say that," asked Gibbs. He and Fornell had entered the room so quietly that Tony hadn't realized they were even there.

"Boss, Dawson is going on about the fact that Carter acted on his own."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, either she's been calling the shots all along or she's been working for the person who has."

Gibbs nodded. He'd come to that conclusion already, but didn't have anything to prove it. Turning to his agents, he stated, "Tony, take Carter into Interrogation 2. Find out what he knows." Gibbs handed him a copy of the information McGee had been able to gather. "Focus on any connections Carter may have with the Russian community, Dawson, Lubivich, and Peter Sokolov. Ziva, you do the same with Dawson." He handed her a copy of the same information he'd given Tony.

Gibbs then turned to Fornell. "I assume you're okay with observing for now."

Fornell nodded. "But I want a crack at Dawson when Ziva is done."

Gibbs shrugged as if to say he didn't care what the FBI agent did. He turned to his team members. "Well, what are you waiting for, an engraved invitation?"

A few hours later, Tony and Ziva were finishing up their paper work from the interrogation and arrest of Amy Dawson and Ivan Carter on charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and numerous other drug and racketeering charges. Gibbs had been all to happy to allow Fornell and his men to take charge of the prisoners, after all NCIS really had no jurisdiction in the matter.

Gibbs sighed as he sat at his desk, contemplating the envelope containing Peter Sokolov's letter. He was procrastinating going down to the lab to retrieve Anya. They needed to go home so that he could explain to her exactly what had happened along with the role her father had played in this entire fiasco. Supposing it was a good a time as any to read the letter, he picked up the letter, slid the pages out and began reading:

_My dear friend_, _if you are reading this, then I am dead. Whether my death will be at someone else's hands or my own, I have not yet determined. But I do know my time is near. I cannot beat the cancer that is eating away at my body, and I do not want to suffer through the final battle. If fate does not intervene, I intend to leave this world on my own terms. Of all the many things I will regret, the most important is leaving my darling Anya behind. I know you will watch over her and care for her as if she were your own. _

_It is not by accident that you have been pulled into this matter. If I know you, my friend, you will not have been satisfied with simply playing the role of body guard to my daughter. Instead, you will have taken it upon yourself to investigate Vladimir Lubivich and determine his whereabouts so that you could neutralize the threat to Anya. In your investigation, you will most likely uncover the secret I have hidden from you all these years._

_Despite all appearances, I did not break all of my ties with Mother Russian when I defected to America. I maintained my ties to the Bratva. My father was a member, as was his father before him. I became a member at a very young age. They took advantage of my intelligence and my education. While I maintained the image of a beleaguered research scientist, in the background I was becoming more and more powerful. I do not tell you this to brag, but to explain the decisions that have been made._

_When I came to America, it was with the duel purpose of escaping the oppression and poverty in Russia while working to establish and increase the presence of the Bratva here. I attempted to shield Anya from it, but she managed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and overhear something she should have. Unless she knows more than she has said, and I have no reason to believe she does, she does not realize the full extent of what she overheard that night. Lubivich was discussing a job that was to be performed at my direction._

_This happened about the same time I learned of my diagnosis and prognosis. My first concern was for Anya's future. I wasn't the father she needed, and as a result she did not grow into the young woman I had hoped she would be. After spending several days pondering my choices, it finally occurred to me that you would be the perfect solution to my problems. I knew if, given the right circumstances, you were asked to care for Anya you would not refuse. _

_I knew what had happened to your wife and daughter, so I did not believe you would simply agree to to take Anya into your home. If I misjudged you, I sincerely apologize, my friend. As you know it has been a very long time since we last spoke, and people do tend to change. Regardless, I contacted Amy Dawson to help me arrange things. You have probably discovered by now that we are cousins of a sort. My mother and her grandmother were sisters. When I moved to America, I established and maintained contact with her. I also knew that she was working for the FBI and was also dating a low-level enforcer in my organization. I arranged for them to make it appear that Anya's life was in danger._

_All I can do at this point is sincerely apologize for my actions. My only defense is that I was doing what I thought best for my daughter. I continue to hope that you will not hold my actions against her and take her into your home and heart. I will leave it up to your discretion whether you tell her of my actions, but I pray that you will not. I would prefer that my daughter not know of my other life._

_I must ask that you do one last thing for me. I have enclosed a letter I wrote to Anya. Please give it to her._

_Good bye, my friend._

The letter was simply signed, Peter.

Gibbs tossed the letter on his desk and leaned back in his chair. The letter didn't contain any new information. They had managed to get complete confessions from both Dawson and Carter and knew all about the scheme to make it appear as if Anya were in danger. They had also learned that it had been Ivan Carter, acting on Peter's orders who had killed Vladimir Lubivich and tossed his body in the Potomac. Carter had been acting on his own when he had taken the shot at Anya. He had stated that he'd only intended to scare her.

Making up his mind as to what he was going to do, Gibbs slid the letter back into its envelope and rose from his desk chair. He quickly feed the document, envelope and all into the paper shredder that sat in the corner behind his desk. "I'm going to get Anya and go home. You guys should head out yourselves and get some rest."

Later that evening, Anya and Gibbs sat side by side on the couch. Their feet were propped up on the coffee table and an empty pizza box sat on the cushion between them. Gibbs took a drink of his beer and contemplated the remaining inch of amber liquid before speaking.

"You know, Anya, that you have a home here for as long as you want."

Anya looked up in surprise. She had been staring at her pop can, lost in though, wondering what she was going to do. Now she wondered if Gibbs had just read her mind.

"What do you mean?" She had read the letter that her father had left for her and was still having trouble wrapping her head around the idea that her father would rather die than try to fight for his life; that he'd rather leave her alone than attempt to stay behind for her. Now she couldn't help but wonder what would happen next.

Gibbs sat up and put his now empty beer bottle on the coffee table. "I mean that you can stay here as long as you like. You could go to school, get a job, do whatever it is you want to do with your life. Even take some time to think things through."

Anya nodded. "I'm scared, Gibbs – even more scared than when I thought someone was trying to kill me. My life has been turned upside down, and I don't know which way is up anymore."

Gibbs moved over until he sat right next to Anya. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "I know, but I'm here to help you figure it out."

THE END

**Author's Note:** I thought about attempting to write the interrogation scene, but I didn't like anything I came up with. So, I decided to leave that to your imagination and give you the end result. I hope you aren't too disappointed.

I've also decided to end the story here. I may return to Anya and her further adventures one day, but right now my muse won't leave me alone about the Magnificent Seven story that's starting to buzz around in my head. As always, any comments or suggestions you might have are always welcome.


End file.
